


Safe House

by KaceyLondon



Series: Safe House [1]
Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-21
Updated: 2012-03-21
Packaged: 2017-11-02 08:02:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 13
Words: 49,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/366795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaceyLondon/pseuds/KaceyLondon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If you're in a situation where you've gotta make a run for it, you better make sure your shoes are tied.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Be gentle, it's my first time!

It was a day like any other. The sun was shining, it was a bright and sunny day, there was laughter and chittering from kids just released from school taking in their first gasps of fresh non-classroom air of the day and feeling late spring's warm sunbeams on their faces and tanned arms. The indie kids were huddled under the shade of a large tree, the soft plucking of acoustic strings floated through the air and mixed with the melodic feminine giggles of the girl's track team stretching for their warm-up run like a symphony. The thick growl of the school bus lurching forward provided a bass track, and the footsteps of teenagers skipping about and heading home for the day laid a steady rhythm section. Yes it was a day just like any other... miserable.

Frank swore under his breath as he watched the bus drive away without him on it. His fingers clutched tightly to the strap of the messenger bag half heartedly slung over his shoulder and he swallowed hard. Well fuck. The scrawny boy ran his fingers through his dark greasy hair and contemplated briefly which way home to take. On the one hand he could take the longer route and probably avoid any amount of people who sought to make his life complete shit, but it would take him twice as long to get home, and his father would be none too pleased about it, not that he would be sober enough to remember his misdeeds tomorrow. On the other hand, the quicker route was littered with teenage boys who wanted to beat his sexuality out of him, metal-heads who wanted to beat some music taste into him, and punks who just wanted to beat him for the hell of it. 

He kicked a rock on the ground angrily and resigned himself to the quicker route, knowing that the evening would be complete hell for him if he was late getting home. He knelt down and tightened the laces on his mangled and duct- taped tennis shoes. If you're in a situation where you've gotta make a run for it, you better make sure your shoes are tied. He sighed and turned around, heading in the direction of his home.

Every noise Frank heard on his journey home jumped the Jesus out of him. He swallowed tightly and constantly looked around him. A wry smirk twisted his features a bit as he thought about everyone around him contemplating what psychoactive drug he must be on, but the smirk quickly fell from his face as he heard the heavy raspy growl of the hideous name that had come to be his and his alone at school. "Hey faggot!"

Frank took a glance behind him and sped up his pace a bit, seeing the studded jackets and brightly colored hair uniforms of the punk kids and he cursed under his breath, it was only about 12 blocks back to his place, but he was fairly confident that his tar-filled lungs wouldn't hold up for that long, and that they would catch him eventually. He could hear their Doc Martins thumping heavily on the pavement gaining on him, and he looked around quickly for a place that he could duck into, but quickly pushed that thought out of his mind. If he ducked into the library or something they would just wait for him and then he would get his ass kicked and be late getting home, and that was the least preferable option. He tightened the strap on his messenger bag and like a bat out of the depths of hell, took off running.

The next few moments were a blur of time and shapes as he flew down the street, dodging people and yelling out half-felt apologies to suited men and women with shopping bags that he knocked into. He could hear the jumbled yelling of the mob that chased him and he made it a good five blocks of the twelve before his body was flung forward skidding across the rough sidewalk that tore at his skin. 

He felt the heavy weight of knees on his shoulder blades. He felt a warm wetness on the side of his face and the sting of air as he was pulled up from the ground and thrown against the brick facade of a building. He gasped for air to cry out for help as a barrage of fists and boots pummeled him and as he felt his body crash back to the ground he curled up, hugging his knees to his chest to protect his ribcage as experience had taught him was the key to getting through the beatings.

The seconds all blurred together as he felt a solid boot connect with his shoulder and a fist on his temple, obscenities and hateful slurs blended into a hellish orchestra of ringing in his ears and blood rushing in his veins and then out of nowhere it stopped. The barrage of assault subsided and he felt the ground shudder under the weight of seven teenagers beating it up the street away from something. Frank just laid there, willing his head to stop spinning, and attempting to inflate his lungs again, which only caused a bolt of pain that ran down his side and caused his to cough and convulse for a moment on the ground. 

Once he had composed himself he managed to observe his surroundings. They had waited, timed it out perfect to the stretch of his walk home when he entered the neighborhood he lived in. It was the type of south Jersey neighborhood where even if he had been shot and was laying dead on the sidewalk, nobody was going to call the police. They all had their own illegal goings-on, and to narc was to call attention to yourself, and to call attention to yourself was not smart in his neighborhood.

A movement distracted him from his thoughts and he sat up, hissing a bit under his breath, and wiping a bit of blood out of his eye to see what was happening. His vision blurred for a moment but cleared up and landed on a figure of a man that was crouched down in front of him. He could tell the man was speaking to him, but the ringing in his ears wouldn't die down and he couldn't quite make out the words. He just stared dumbly at the man for a moment before he shook his head and sense returned to his body.

The man's features were etched with worry and he spoke softly again. "Kid, are you okay? Can you hear me?"

Frank reached up and wiped at the blood that trickled out of his nose and he nodded a little. "Yeah. Thanks." He managed to pull himself to his feet, grunting and wincing at the pain that racked his body. He took a quick observation of himself, the shoulder of his black tee shirt was stuck to his body with the sick feeling of drying blood, the knee of his jeans was ripped open and his leg bled a bit from road-rash, his arms were already starting to turn a purpleish-yellow where he had been kicked, and the nosebleed and head-wound were already starting to clot and stop. 

He looked over at the man who was pulling out a cell phone and bottle of water from his bag. "Here, drink this kid. It's just water. I'm gonna call some paramedics for you, you're awfully banged up." The man's Jersey drawl pulled his mouth to the side as he spoke, and his black hair hung in his face a bit, partially obscuring his hazel eyes and pale olive skin. It took a moment for the mans words to sink it but as they did Frank's nerves jumped a bit and he yelped out quickly.

"No! No I'm fine, don't call anyone!" He reached up and quickly grabbed the man's cell phone, snapping it shut before handing it back to him. "I-I'm fine. It just looks bad."

The man arched his eyebrow steeply at the boy and shook his head. "You sure, kid?" When the boy only nodded adamantly, gulping down the water he had been given he chuckled softly. "So what was that all about?"

Frank blushed a bit and shrugged, kicking his toe on the ground a little. "Just guys from school. It's not a big deal. I have to get home, my dad's gonna be pissed."

"Looking like that? Don't you wanna clean up a little first?" The man let out a bright cheery giggle that made Frank's eyebrows furrow a bit, confused as to what was so damn funny. "I'm just saying, you look like hell. My place is only a few minutes from here, want to come and clean up?"

Frank blinked at the man who must have been at least twenty years old. "Are you insane?" Frank made a face at him and picked up his messenger bag again, shouldering it over his non-bleeding shoulder. "I don't even know you. Thanks dude for whatever you did and shit but you're nuts if you think I'm going anywhere with you."

The man shrugged a little and gave Frank a lopsided smirk. "Suit yourself. I'm just saying you're kind of like a wounded gazelle on the Serengeti right now. I'd hate to see anything worse happen to you on your way home."

Frank bit his lip a little but hissed when it realized it was split open a bit and he stared at the man for a moment before looking back in the direction of his house, then back at the man. "I dunno.. I- um..."

Another bright laugh made its way from the man's lips and he nodded. "I get it, stranger danger, right? Well here, my name is Gerard Way. Now you tell me your name, and we won't be strangers. Come on, I'm not gonna hurt you, kid. I just want you to clean up a bit before Jersey filth makes its way into your blood stream."

The comment made Frank chuckle a little and he nodded to Gerard. "Frank Iero. Nice to meet you."

Gerard grinned and nodded back. "Come on, get in the car. Don't bleed on the interior too much." Gerard laughed again as Frank just dumbly blinked at him.

"I'm kidding. Get in." He opened the door for Frank before climbing in the drivers side and heading off.

******

"Take your pants off." Gerard called back to the boy who was standing awkwardly in front of the door of his apartment.

"What?!" Franks eyes shot wide open and he stared at the man in shock. "No!"

Gerard snorted a little. "Relaaax! I was gonna fix the hole in your jeans, damn you're jumpy." He smirked and dug around for a moment before tossing a clean shirt and pair of pants to him.

Frank blushed brightly and nodded. "Um, can I use the bathroom?"

Gerard nodded and motioned to a door, giving him a smile. "There are clean wash towels in the cabinet and some anti-bacterial and bandages too. Get yourself cleaned up. Toss your pants out and I'll fix them up. You hungry?" Gerard glanced back at the boy, "Pizza?"

"Uh... yeah, sure." Frank blinked a little at the man and moved into the bathroom to clean up. He carefully stepped out of his jeans and tossed them out to Gerard before shutting the door again and pulling his tee shirt off, wincing when the dried blood pulled at his wound and made it start bleeding a bit again.

It took him fifteen minutes to clean himself up and bandage his bigger wounds before he pulled on the clean clothes that Gerard had given him. The shirt was hazy green with the logo and name of some band he had never heard of before, and the jeans were loose and barely stayed up, sitting dangerously low on his bony hips. He held them up as he walked out of the bathroom, scanning the place for Gerard. His eyes landed on the man who sat on a hideous floral couch that had to be from the seventies, he held Frank's jeans in one hand, and a needle and thread in the other. When he spoke his voice came out soft and timid. "Hey, thanks. For whatever you did to call those guys off, and for helping me out."

Gerard looked up from his sewing project and his breath caught in his throat a bit, the boy looked so small and unwell. Now that he could make out his featured without them being obscured by swelling and blood he saw the boy was unnaturally thin, completely swimming in his clothes, his hazel eyes had dark circles under them, his hair was stringy and unkempt, he could see Frank's hipbones stretched tightly against his pale skin, and the bruises that littered his arms seemed to Gerard to be not all from the assault the boy had taken earlier. Through all of it, though, the boy was beautiful. It seemed to dawn on Gerard that he was staring and not responding and he snapped his eyes up to Frank's and gave him a gentle smile. "You're welcome. I uh, I just grabbed a patch I had laying around to fix your jeans, I hope you don't mind." He motioned at a black fabric patch with the same logo on it that the green tee shirt had.

Frank shook his head and gave him another little smile. "I don't mind. Thanks."

Gerard's soft smile turned into a full grin and he motioned to the rest of the couch. "Come sit down, you don't have to be scared of me or anything." He perked up as a knock on the door got his attention and he stood up and pulled the door opening, pulling out a twenty-dollar bill and paying the man at the door before closing it and kicking the door shut, walking back over to Frank and setting down a pizza box on the table. "Dig in, for real! You need to eat something, you're the creepy kind of skinny." He flashed Frank another disarming smile before the boy could get offended, and went back to stitching the patch onto Frank's jeans.

Frank grabbed a piece of pizza, and started eating, hugging his knees to his chest as he watched Gerard, starting already to feel more comfortable around him. "So what do you do? I mean, other than drive around waiting to be a white knight for defenseless high school kids..." Frank smirked a little at him before grabbing another slice of pizza, scarfing that one down also.

Gerard chuckled a little, glad to see Frank eating. "Nope, that's it. That's all I do." He smirked a little and grabbed a piece of pizza as well. "Naw, I work at Cards & Comics over on 5th. I used to also take classes at City College, but I quit, literally this morning. Good thing too or else right now I would be sitting in Bullshit 101 instead of saving your ass."

Frank snickered a little and glanced over at him. "You're in college?"

"I was in college."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-one."

"Why'd you quit?"

"Why do you have so many questions?" Gerard smirked at Frank who blushed brightly and apologized, suddenly taking a keen interest in his socks. "I'm kidding, Frankie, I'm sorry. I quit because I have no idea what I want to do with life. I was just taking random classes and wasting money with absolutely zero idea of what I want to major in. So I quit. Maybe I'll pick it up someday when I have an idea, maybe not. We'll see I guess."

Frank blushed and nodded a little. "That's smart."

Gerard nodded and gave him a smile. "I thought so. So what about you? What do you do?"

Frank blinked and smirked a little, his nose wrinkling up in distaste. "I go to high school. At John The Baptist Catholic High School." He faked a gag before smirking a little. "And that's it. After school I go home and take care of my Dad-" his eyes shot wide open as he realized the time and he snatched his jeans, wiggling out of Gerard's and pulling his own back on at lightning speed. Forgetting that he was still wearing Gerard's shirt, he grabbed his bag and hauled it over his shoulder. "SHIT! FUCK SHIT! I gotta go I'm sorry, thank you- FUCK!" Frank stumbled and fell into the wall as he pulled his shoes on frantically. "Thanks again! Um I- yeah thanks!" With that in a blur of greasy black hair and pale skin the boy disappeared from Gerard's doorway.


	2. Chapter Two

Frank gulped a little as he looked at his watch and then up at the front door of the apartment he and his father lived in. He closed his eyes and took a stabilizing breath before he pushed the door open and walked in, his eyes quickly scanning the place for his father. He frowned a little as he looked around, the apartment was disgusting. There were bottles of beer and hard liquor scattered everywhere, an overflowing ashtray that sat on the arm of a burnt orange chair which was covered in burn holes, ash, and the general reek of filth. The carpet was matted and hadn’t been cleaned _ever_ to his knowledge, and the windows were yellowed with smoke residue, covered in such a thick layer of grime that the sunlight had to struggle and fight its way through. To the right of the living room was a kitchen, which was not so much a kitchen as it was a booze storage room for his father, to the left a small hallway that led to two rooms and a bathroom. On one side was his fathers room which reeked of cigarette smoke, sweat, and other ungodly odors that Frank didn’t want to even attempt to put his finger on, and on the other side was his bedroom. He tried to keep it as clean as possible, in stark contrast to the rest of the apartment, but it wasn’t much. A tattered mattress that lay on the floor providing not much of a barrier between a sleeping body and the ground except for the random spring that prodded itself into Franks ribcage or thigh when he laid down. There were no sheets on the bed, but a threadbare and pilled blanket was draped carefully over the bed and one flat and stained pillow.

Frank stood in the front room trying to find his father and a sense of relief washed over him. Perhaps his father had gone out to the bar instead of drinking at home, maybe he wouldn’t know that Frank had gotten home late, and he wouldn’t be in a shit load of trouble! Frank allowed a small smile to cross his face as he walked across the front room, kicking beer cans out of his way, and made his way to his bedroom, carefully setting his bag down in the corner and pulling out his school books, setting them down on the floor to start getting ready to do his homework. He had just bent down to dig a pen out of his bag when he heard the toilet flush and his father grumbling and opening the door. Frank’s heart froze in his chest and he held his breath, desperately praying that his father would leave him be for the night and return to the front room to drink more and watch TV. His hopes were short-lived, however, as he heard his father’s gruff voice in his doorway.

“Where the fuck have you been, you little shit?”

Frank couldn’t help the way his hands trembled and he gulped softly. “I- I’m sorry sir. I had to stay and talk to my math teacher after school.” Frank lied through his teeth, praying to whatever deity happened to exist that he wouldn’t be found out. 

His father grunted and seemed to buy the story but he sneered a little and looked Frank over. “Th’ fuck happened to your face?” He moved over to Frank and roughly grabbed his chin in his thick meaty hand, looking over the cut above Frank’s eye. “Get in another fight?” He snorted and spoke with laughter and a sting of contempt and hatred in his voice. “You wouldn’t get hit so much if you weren’t such a filthy fag.” He threw Frank’s face away from him and turned, walking out of the room. “Don’t disturb me. I don’t want to see you.”

Frank’s eyes stung with tears and he nodded a bit. “Yes sir.” With that the man lumbered out of the room and back into the front room. Frank rubbed the aching spot where his father had grabbed his face and he sighed softly, sitting down on the floor with his books and starting to work on his homework.

The night wore on and Frank stayed in his bedroom, only daring to step foot out of the room once to use the bathroom, and even then he walked on tip toes and held his breath as he flushed, praying it wouldn’t disturb his father. By 8:00 he was finished with his school work and he sat on the mattress, hugging his knees, his stomach gnawing away at itself in hunger. He was thankful that Gerard had offered him food earlier in the day, and the two pieces of pizza he had eaten had been the most he had eaten in two days. He grit his teeth against the sharp pains in his stomach and rooted around in his bag for the bottle of water he had, hoping that the liquid would help fill him up at least a bit. He wanted desperately to tiptoe his way into the kitchen and find something to eat among the scattered boxes of leftover take-out food, but his father’s demand to not disturb him was plain and simple, and Frank knew the consequences of disobeying him. He took a deep breath and pulled out a notebook starting to doodle in it absentmindedly to take his mind off his hunger.

His bedroom door slamming open startled Frank and he dropped his notebook and pen, jumping to his feet as his father filled the doorway, staggering into his bedroom. “Come here you little shit.” the man growled and made a grab at Frank but the boy dodged to the side quickly and he stumbled and fell to the ground. Frank held his breath as he watched his drunk father fall and he squeezed his eyes tightly shut as he realized that he was going to get it ten-fold for dodging away like he did. Struggling would only serve to dig his hole deeper.

The man lurched back to his feet and narrowed his eyes dangerously at Frank before shooting his hand out and snatching him by the collar, dragging the tiny boy close to him. He leaned down and hissed in his face, the sour reek of booze and cigarettes making Frank’s eyes water. “Stay still you fucking little faggot!” He shook Frank sharply by the collar and threw the boy into the wall, following after him menacingly. “You want to be a fag, then act like a fag, you fucking pathetic shit.” He smirked a lecherous smirk and covered Frank’s lithe body with his own.

Hands flew and groped at the teenaged body, and Frank closed his eyes and tried desperately to put his mind in any other situation. He stayed still, holding his breath as his father touched him and rubbed against him, and when his body was thrown down onto the mattress, he moved onto his stomach and pushed his face into the pillow, letting it swallow his tears and tiny whimpers as he felt the man move overtop of him, drunkenly pulling his clothes off.

In only a few moments time it was over and Frank laid on the filthy mattress, stalk still and naked, as his father lumbered out of the room and into his own bedroom, slamming the door. He heard the sound of the man falling into bed, but still Frank stayed still, not daring to move or make a sound. It was only after a count of 500 in his head that he cautiously pulled himself up and tiptoed into the bathroom to lean over the toilet and dry-heave, tears shooting down his face.

Frank stood up, cleaned himself up and stared at his reflection in the mirror for a moment before looking away in disgust and tiptoeing back to his own room, tugging on a pair of boxer shorts and laying down in his bed, desperate for sleep to overtake him.

***********

Frank rolled his eyes as he felt a wadded up piece of paper hit the back of his neck and he hunched over his desk, scribbling down answers to the day’s final test. He managed a glance to the clock and sighed as he realized time was almost up and he quickly filled in the remaining blank spaces with bullshit answers, finishing the last one just as the bell rang. He jammed his pencil and notebook into his bag and stood up quickly, tossing his test on the teacher’s desk as students filed out of the classroom. If he missed his bus again he would have to suffer another walk home and he wasn’t sure his body could handle the abuse two days in a row again.

“Mr. Iero, can I speak with you for a moment?” The teacher looked up from her desk and gave Frank a kind smile. Frank frowned a little and looked at his watch. 

“Uh… yeah, okay.” He shifted from side to side as the remaining students filed out of the room and he was left alone with Ms. Kelley, the one teacher that all the boys in the school talked about in the locker rooms. All the boys who weren’t gay, that was. He stared at her for a moment, expectantly.

“What happened to your face, Frank?” Ms. Kelley furrowed her eyebrows as her eyes lingered on the red and painful looking cut above his eyes before moving down to his arms which were bruised still. “I’m concerned for you…”

Frank swallowed hard and shook his head, quickly spouting off the party-line that he had adopted whenever anyone questioned him about a new bruise or cut, or commented on how skinny he was getting. “I had Muay Thai lessons last night. I’m all right.” He gave Ms. Kelley a fake but convincing smile. Everyone in town knew that his father was a retired fighter, it would come as no shock to anyone if Frank really was taking fighting lessons. It was the perfect excuse, and they bought it every time.

“Ah yes, the fighting. How are the classes coming?” The woman eyed Frank carefully.

“Good, I wasn’t on my best game last night, but I’ll definitely do better next time. I really gotta catch my bus Ms. Kelley…”

The short woman stood up from her desk and nodded, smiling at Frank and laid her hand on his shoulder. “Well off you go, then. Be careful in those classes, Frank, you’re a smart boy, we wouldn’t want you getting kicked in the head.” She giggled a bit and shooed him out of the classroom.

Frank grinned and nodded, running out of the room and down the hallway towards the exit, praying that the busses hadn’t left yet. He made it outside once again just as the busses were pulling away and he kicked a rock on the ground. “FUCK!” He blushed brightly, hoping there were no adults around that would punish him for swearing on school grounds, and not seeing any teachers or staff he sighed and rubbed his face, turning and starting to walk out of the parking lot.

Five steps into his walk home and a heavy hand rested on his shoulder. Frank stiffened up and clamped his eyes shut, waiting for the blow from some jock or metal-head. When it didn’t come he peeked behind him, his eyes widening as they landed on Gerard. “What the-- what are _you_ doing here?”

Gerard snorted at Frank’s initial reaction and he grinned a little, jamming his hands into his pockets and shrugging. “Thought you could use a ride home or something.”

Frank looked at Gerard suspiciously for a moment before cautiously speaking. “…why?”

Gerard once again gave Frank a disarming smile and waved it off as if it was no big deal. “I have a vested interest in you now, kid. I want my shirt back… I liked that shirt.”

Frank blushed brightly and swallowed hard. “Oh… right.”

The snort that the older man let out was abrupt and started Frank slightly. “Seriously? I’m kidding, Frank. Keep the shirt, I don’t care about it! I go by here on my way home every day, and I thought maybe you’d like a ride home from school so as to avoid any further beatings at the hands of your classmates.”

Frank rubbed the back of his neck shyly. “I uh.. I take the bus.”

“Yeah, that seems to work out really well for you.” Gerard smirked a little. “You are seriously one skittish kid, you know that?”

“Yeah.” Frank chuckled a little and looked around spotting a group of Senior boys who were glaring at him, obviously just waiting until the adult was gone to make their move. He bit his lip a little and swallowed hard. “Um, if you’re sure you don’t mind, I guess…”

Gerard waved it off with a laugh. “If I minded I wouldn’t have come by. Come on, I’m parked over here.” He led Frank over to his car and opened the door for him before climbing in. “Hey you wanna grab something to eat first? I’m starved.”

“Oh uh… I don’t have any money.” Frank stared at his lap shamefully and picked at his nails a little.

“Don’t even worry about it, Frankie.” Gerard smirked and pulled out of the parking lot, heading down the street. He reached over and turned on the radio, bobbing his head along to the mellow song that was playing. “Fuckin’ love these guys. You ever heard this?” He turned it up a bit more, casting a quick glance over at Frank before returning his eyes to the road.

“I don’t think so, who are they? I like it.” Frank listened carefully, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“This, my poor culturally deprived boy, is The Velvet Underground.” Gerard said with a laugh.

Frank blushed brightly and stared out the window. _Great, now he thinks you’re a complete loser._ He sighed softly to himself, swallowing hard and wonderful for a second why he gave a shit what Gerard thought.

Gerard frowned a little when Frank just looked a bit ashamed and he slowed the car down at a stop light and turned to look at Frank. “Hey, Frankie… look I’m just kidding around with you… don’t take it so personally, okay?” He gave him a charming smile and arched his eyebrow. “Besides, you’re what… eighteen? You weren’t even born when this song came out.”

“Sixteen.” Frank mumbled a little and turned to look at Gerard. “I’m sixteen.”

Gerard’s eyes widened a little and he cleared his throat a bit before smirking. “Well see? You weren’t even an idea in your parents mind yet.”

“I was _never_ an idea in my parent’s minds, Gerard.” Frank smirked a little, starting to loosen up. He let out a little chuckle and nodded his head along with the beat of the song. “This is a really great song, though. I like it.”

Gerard grinned and nodded as the light turned green, heading down the road once more. “Glad you think so.”

It was a few minutes later that Gerard pulled the car into the parking lot of a diner and he turned the ignition off and climbed out with Frank. “Best burgers in Jersey, I shit you not!” He grinned at Frank and led him inside.

The diner was hideous, all chrome and sparkling vinyl in the loudest colors that Frank had ever seen before. Some tinny jukebox played a vaguely familiar tune from the 60’s, and the black and white checkerboard floor made Frank a little dizzy to look at. Gerard led him down a little aisle to a booth and slid in. “Order anything, I’m serious!” Gerard looked at the boy, frowning at how small he was and how the high-backed booth just about swallowed him alive.

“I- I’m not really that hungry.” Frank lied, he was starving. His stomach was twisting in knots just at the smell of food in the place, but he was imposing on Gerard as it was, getting a ride home.

“Bullshit, you’re not hungry.” Gerard scoffed. “Frank, I can hear your stomach growling from over here.” He smirked a little. “I mean it, you gotta eat something.”

Frank blushed as his stomach loudly gurgled and he let out a shy chuckle, rubbing the back of his head shyly. “A’ight. Thanks.”

Just then a man who looked around Gerard’s age walked over to the table with a dirty apron wrapped around his waist and a notepad in his hand. “Gee! What’s up dude?” He smirked and greeted Gerard casually, taking it upon himself to overturn a mug and pour the man a cup of oily looking coffee. Frank eyed the man who was tall and strong looking with pale skin and a ridiculous mop of curly brown hair that nearly took over his entire head.

“Ray, good to see you, man.” Gerard smiled. “This is my new friend Frankie. Frankie, this is Ray.” Gerard grinned, watching as Frank politely offered a fail hand to the man.

Ray arched his eyebrow and stared at Gerard for a moment before carefully shaking Frank’s hand, almost hesitantly as if he were afraid he would crush the kid’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Frank. What can I get you to eat?”

“Go for the burger, dude.” Gerard smirked. “You won’t regret it! Unless you’re vegan or some shit, and in that case, I’m afraid we can’t be friend anymore.” Gerard laughed at his own joke before taking a sip of the coffee and making a face. “Damn that’s the worst coffee I’ve ever had.”

Frank laughed a little and shrugged. “A burger is fine, thanks.”

Ray nodded and walked off back to the kitchen to put their orders in. Frank looked around the diner and blinked a little, it was completely vacant except for themselves. “This place is a shithole.” Frank looked back at Gerard and smirked.

“A shithole indeed, but it’s Ray’s shithole.” Gerard grinned. “And the man cooks some damn fine food. Can’t make coffee for shit, but just you wait.” He leaned back against the vinyl seat and stared at Frankie. “So, tell me about yourself. Obviously school sucks for you… but what else?”

Frank shrugged a little. “I like school, actually. School isn’t the problem, it’s the people who also go to my school that do the punching.” He chuckled a little, “I actually really like class. English class mostly. Besides it beats the shit out of being at home.” He added the last bit in under his breath, sipping the lukewarm water that was in his glass.

“Ah yes, at home. With your… dad? Am I remembering that right?” When Frank nodded Gerard smiled a little and took another sip of the coffee that he claimed to be disgusting. “You said you take care of your dad. He sick?”

Frank blinked and stared at Gerard for a moment. Normally he would shoot out some kind of lie about his dad, but for some reason he found himself not wanting to lie to Gerard. The kindness the man had shown him had been more than anyone had ever shown him in his entire life, and he felt like Gerard was really the kind of person who could become his friend. His only friend. Above all of that, he had spent his entire life lying and covering up who he was, what his home was like, and every detail of his life that he felt like if he had to lie to one more person he would explode. Perhaps it would be cathartic to tell the truth for a change, it’s not like Gerard was going to do anything about it, maybe he would just be a friend to talk to about things. 

“Yeah. I guess you could say he’s sick.” Frank sighed a little. “He’s an alcoholic. If I don’t get home in time he gets seriously pissed. Besides, someone has gotta make sure he hasn’t drowned in his own vomit while I was at school.” He gave Gerard a wry smirk and sat back a little.

“Ah.” Gerard nodded a little and gave Frankie a little frown. “That sucks, I’m sorry to hear it.”

Frank shrugged a little. “It is what it is. I’m turning seventeen next month, and then a year after that I’m outta here.”

“Oh yeah?” Gerard smiled as Ray returned to their table with two burgers and a plate piled sky-high with fries. “Thanks Ray.” He grinned as the man nodded and went back to the kitchen. “Where will you go?” He reached forward and plucked a fry from the pile, popping it in his mouth.

Frank blinked a little and stared at Gerard. Nobody had ever asked him that before, and to be honest with himself, he never really thought about where he would go. He just knew he would _go_. “I don’t know. Chicago, maybe? Anywhere that’s not New-Fucking-Jersey.”

Gerard let out a bright laugh and lifted his mug of coffee. “Amen to that, Frankie. Dig in!”

Frank didn’t have to be told twice, with a burger and fries sitting right in front of him, his stomach was starting to revolt. He picked up the burger and went to town on it.

A while later the two men sat back, stuffed to the gills and making aimless chatter about music, art, and nothing else of very much importance. Gerard smiled at Frank and leaned forward. “Frank, can I be completely honest with you?”

Frank looked over at him and shrugged. “That’s up to you, I guess. I would hope so!”

Gerard smiled and nodded, hesitating a moment before he spoke up. “You aren’t very well taken care of, Frank.” The man stared straight into Frank’s eyes with a kind and warm gaze, but didn’t waver when Frank started to protest and make a weak excuse. He put his hand up to stop him and continued. “You aren’t well taken care of, Frank. You clearly aren’t. I’m not here to pass judgment or claim to be your savior, but I _am_ concerned for you, and I want you to be well.”

Frank swallowed hard, his throat tightening. “P-… please don’t call the state. I- I… please.” His voice came out in a pathetic whimper. For as horrendous as things were in his home-life, he had heard hellish stories of the foster system. “It’s just one more year, and I’ll be able to leave on my own as a legal adult I-” Frank took a shuddering breath, terrified that Gerard was going to intervene, and throw him to the Health and Human Service wolves.

Gerard put his hand up again before reaching over and taking Frank’s small hand in his. “Hey, woah… woah! Take a breath, Frankie. I’m not gonna call anyone unless you ask me to.” He smiled as he felt Frank relax slightly. “But what I am going to do is make you a deal, all right?” He searched Frank’s eyes for a moment as he paused. When the man seemed to calm down the rest of the way he let go of his hand and sat back. “I’m going to pick you up from school every day and make sure you have something to eat before I bring you home. Do you think you can spare an extra couple hours after school? Make up some shit about having to do extra-curricular or something to graduate? Buy you some extra time out of your dad’s place?”

Frank blushed brightly and shrunk into himself a bit. “You really don’t have--”

“No shit I don’t have to.” Gerard gave him a smile. “I want to. I want to make sure you’re okay, Frankie. I think you’re a pretty cool kid.” He grinned. “So do you think it’ll work?”

Frank shrugged and nodded a little. “Yeah, probably.”

“Okay, that’s good. Then I will pick you up from school every day, we will hang out and have something to eat, and then I’ll bring you home. But I want you to promise me one thing, Frankie.”

Frank looked up at him and nodded. “Yeah, sure. What it is?”

Gerard leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table and stared straight into Frank’s eyes. His face was serious, and when he spoke his voice was thick with emotion. “I want you to always be 100% honest with me, Frankie. I want you to trust me, and I want you to be able to get everything off your chest that you keep so tightly bottled up. I swear on my life, Frank, that I will never tell another soul about anything unless you ask me to, but I need you to be honest with me.”

Frank swallowed hard and his hands shook slightly under the table. He stared right back at Gerard, trying to search for any form of insincerity in them, but he found none. He nodded and let out a slow shaky breath. “I promise.”


	3. Chapter Three

Gerard had kept his promise to Frankie. Every day after school Frank would walk out of the building and glance to the parking lot, and every day his eyes would land on Gerard who would be standing outside, leaning against his car and waving to him. For the past four weeks Frank had slid into Gerard’s car and leaned against soft leather of the seat, his head fallen to the side as he watched Gerard drive and chatted aimlessly with him about the day. Sometimes he would take one of Gerard’s cigarettes and drag slowly on it while they drove around, listening to some band or another that Gerard felt that Frankie absolutely _had_ to know about. Some days they wound up at Ray’s diner, cramming delicious burgers in their mouth and drinking hideous coffee, sometimes they would go back to Gerard’s apartment and eat pasta or something that Frank whipped up. Gerard saw to it that Frank ate a solid meal and went home full, that his threadbare clothes were patched up, and above all else, he saw to it that Frank got the chance to let his feelings and the things that were bugging him out of his system.

Frank grew to adore Gerard, every day when he saw him his face lit up and he would run over to the car, grinning ear to ear. He was comfortable with him now, and didn’t hold back in the slightest when he talked about things with his dad or his classmates. He had talked to Gerard about being gay, and having his father beat the crap out of him for it, he talked about the time when he had kissed another boy at school and had promptly been dragged out to the track field by the football team and been beaten senseless. He talked about the things he loved about school, mostly English class, and how he enjoyed reading the books that he was assigned to read, he talked to Gerard like he had never talked to another human being in his life, and really when it came down to it, he hadn’t. Not _really_ talked to them, anyway. Sometimes he would break down and start crying. The first time he had cried, he felt shame wash over him until Gerard had gently wiped his tears away and hugged him and told him that it was all right to cry. He felt safe with Gerard, and every time that Gerard dropped him off at his house his stomach would fall out from under him and he would reluctantly say goodbye.

Gerard pulled up in front of Frank’s apartment and he gave the boy a small smile, reaching over and ruffling his hair a bit. “Here you are, kiddo. Have a good weekend okay? I’ll see you on Monday!”

Frank frowned a little, he fucking hated Fridays. At least on weekdays he could immerse himself in school during the day to pass the time until he could see Gerard again, but weekends dragged on and on and he had nothing to do except stay at home and stomach the abuse that his father piled on him. The one thing that Frankie hadn’t told Gerard was about his father’s sexual abuse. He talked about how his father hit him sometimes, but he skillfully avoided telling Gerard that his father would throw him down and fuck him on the nights that he didn’t just pass out on himself in front of the TV. It wasn’t lying to Gerard, per se, it was more like just not mentioning it. If Gerard had asked, he would be honest. At least that’s what Frank told himself to feel better about hiding it.

“Yeah, see you Monday.” Frank gave Gerard a little smile and blushed a little, swallowing hard. The man always looked so beautiful when they were saying goodbye. There was a streetlight across the street from where he would park his car, and the light would flow in through the driver’s window and illuminate the outline of Gerard’s face and hair. It would cast a sparkling glint in the man’s strikingly beautiful hazel eyes, and cast a gentle shadow that fell across the other side of his face from the bridge of his nose to his strong jaw-line. It was moments like that when Frank just blushed and was left wordlessly staring at him for a few moments.

Gerard always let Frank stare, unsure of why he was doing it, but figuring the boy was simply steeling himself to go back inside. He sat there and stared back at Frank for as long as the boy looked at him, a small smile on his face. Frank was starting to look much better, thanks to having a solid meal every day and the beatings from his classmates had for the most part subsided, now that they didn’t have the opportunity to catch him away from school grounds. Every few days Gerard would catch sight of a new bruise or cut on Frank’s body, which would be explained as abuse from his father, but for the most part, the boy was starting to look much better and stronger.

Frank let out a inaudible sigh and nodded, tearing his eyes away from Gerard and he opened the door and got out, giving Gerard a small wave and starting for the house. He pushed the door open and walked inside, glancing around nervously as he always did. His father sat on the chair, his gut hanging out of his stained and filthy tee shirt, a cigarette in his hand and a beer to his lips. The man stared at the TV set with glossy eyes, grunting an acknowledgement to Frank.

Frank put his things down and then quickly scurried into the kitchen to fix his father something to eat. Once he finished it, he carried it out to the man and swallowed hard, standing there awkwardly for his father to dismiss him. Instead the man put down his plate and stood up, towering over Frank’s tiny frame. He licked his lips a little and gave Frank a lecherous smirk, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him into the boy’s bedroom.

“Don’t make me tell you what to do, boy.” The man drawled, staring at Frank expectantly. “Take off your fucking clothes, faggot.”

Frank closed his eyes tightly and swallowed the bile that rose up in his throat. “Dad-- please, no. I-” he was cut off by a fist that flew wildly, catching him in the chest and throwing him back against the wall. 

“What the fuck did you say, you little shit?!” The man roared in anger and grabbed Frank, smashing him back into the wall again. He leaned forward and covered Frank’s mouth with his own, and it was all that Frank could do not to vomit. His hands tore at his clothing before he threw him down, his eyes on fire with rage. “You good for fucking nothing piece of shit, you are lucky I let you fucking live in my house! Your worthless fucking mother didn’t want you, nobody fucking wants you!” He hissed hotly in Franks ear and wrapped a hand around his throat as he forced himself inside of the boy, Frank’s yelps of pain only spurring him on.

Frank sobbed as his body was assaulted and invaded, and just when he thought it was over, when his father pulled his slovenly body off of him, he was met with his father’s foot repeatedly kicking him in the stomach. Frank curled up into a ball and dug his nails into his own arms, desperate for it to end. When finally it did end and Frank found himself alone in his bedroom again, he gasped as he sat up and felt the full effect of being kicked in the stomach. He bolted to the bathroom and promptly threw up.

He heard his father shuffling around in the front room and when he emerged from the bathroom and came face to face with him he gasped and flinched a bit, cowering into himself.

“I’m going to Phil’s for the weekend. Don’t fuck shit up, and don’t fucking bother me over there.” With that simple statement the man lumbered out of the apartment and into a taxi cab waiting for him.

Frank stood in that spot, his body on pins and needles as he took in what that meant. He would have an entire weekend without the constant fear of his father bursting into his room. He swallowed hard and stood there for a full fifteen minutes, stunned to his core, and almost in disbelief, as if his father would walk back in any moment and sit down in the chair again. When he didn’t return, Frank moved to his room and pulled his clothes on, wincing a bit at the large bruise forming on his stomach. He paced around the apartment for a few minutes. He _could_ walk over to Gerard’s place and see if he wanted to hang out for the weekend. He chewed on his lip, debating going over there. He didn’t want to intrude on Gerard’s weekend, but what was the worst that could happen? He could just go over there and if Gerard was busy, he could come back home.

Frank wrung his hands a bit and let out an exasperated sigh. _Fuck it. If he doesn‘t want to see me, he can tell me to scram._ With that Frank pushed his feet into his sneakers and grabbed his keys, walking out and locking up the apartment.

Gerard pulled his door open and blinked a little in shock at Frank standing there. “Frankie! Are you okay?” Instantly worry clouded his expression and he pulled the boy inside.

“I’m fine, yeah!” Frank blushed a little. “I mean… my dad kicked me a few times, but I’ll be okay. Anyway he went to New York for the weekend… I was thinking… I dunno, maybe you’d wanna hang?” He looked up at Gerard hopefully.

Gerard chuckled a little and nodded. “Yeah! Yeah, definitely. Why don’t you crash here? We’ll make a party of it!” The man grinned and ruffled Frank’s hair a little, laughing brightly at the screwed up face that Frank always made when he did that.

“Awesome!” Frank beamed brightly and kicked off his shoes before crossing his legs under him on the couch. 

“So your dad got in a few kicks?” Gerard frowned and moved to the kitchen, pulling a couple of cokes out and tossing one to Frank before sitting next to him.

Frank frowned and nodded a little. “Yeah. I pissed him off pretty bad.”

Gerard narrowed his eyes at Frank and spoke sharply to him. “What did I tell you, Frank? What your father does is not your fault. He is a fucked up and sick man, and it’s not anything you did to piss him off, he’s just a fucking asshole.”

Frank swallowed hard and nodded, blushing. Gerard’s eyes had flashed with such passion just then that it took Frank’s breath away momentarily. He looked down at his lap, picking at his nails a little, shyly. “Y-yeah. Sorry.” Instantly Gerard’s features softened and he reached over putting a gentle hand on Frank’s cheek. Frank closed his eyes and leaned into his touch a bit, his heart beating a bit faster in his chest.

Gerard blushed softly and watched Frank’s face while the boy’s eyes were closed. A dark chunk of hair fell over his forehead and across his eyes and the man took a moment to appreciate the beauty of Frank’s face. He was truly beautiful, not just in an attractive way, but in the way that his face fit the perfect aesthetic of classical feminine beauty. Not that Gerard thought of Frank as a woman, he most definitely appreciated the boy’s strong body, and now that he was filling out a bit and not so frighteningly thin, his muscles were taking shape and becoming much more masculine than just boyish. But his face remained feminine with gentle curves and dips, his slender nose leading Gerard’s eyes straight down to his full lips. He let out a soft sigh and gently slid his thumb over his cheekbone for a moment. Frank’s eyes fluttered open and the boy blushed shyly, looking back to Gerard.

Gerard smiled and withdrew his hand, settling back into the couch. “Hey Frankie? You never told me what happened with your mother… where is she?”

Frank shrugged a little and took a sip of the pop Gerard had given him before exhaling slowly. “She left ages ago. Back when Dad was still a fighter. Dad says she hated him being a fighter and wanted him to stop, and when he wouldn’t she took the opportunity to get the fuck out of here. She just up and took off I guess. I was really young and don’t remember a bit of it. He says he’s never heard from her again.” Frank shrugged again and smiled at Gerard as his head lolled to the side, watching him absorb the information.

“That’s shitty.” Gerard frowned a bit but clapped Frank on the knee a bit. “I don’t know how anyone could treat someone like you like such shit. You’re a really awesome boy, Frankie.” He gave Frank a sincere smile and let his hand linger on his knee for a while.

Frank swallowed hard at the feeling of Gerard touching him like that. It wasn’t even a sexual touch, but it made Frank’s skin burn and his heart flutter. He couldn’t help the way he felt about Gerard.

The two men stayed up late into the night talking about everything and noting and when finally they were too exhausted to keep their heads up any longer Gerard stood up, stretching. “Come on, bed time!”

“I uh… I can sleep on the couch, it’s fine… I don’t wanna intrude.”

“Frankie, really? I’ve got that big ass bed, and sleeping on this shitty couch sucks! C’mon, I promise I won’t molest you in your sleep!” He snorted a little and Frank swallowed hard as he watched that extremely sexy lopsided smile of his cross his face.

 _If only I could say the same…_ Frank nodded and stood up, following Gerard back to the bedroom. His throat seized up a bit as he watched Gerard tug his shirt over his head. The man’s muscles in his back stretched and flexed a bit sending a jolt of electricity straight to Frank’s crotch. He had barely ripped his eyes away from the man’s skin before Gerard turned around and threw his shirt and jeans into a laundry basket, crawling into bed.

“What, are you gonna sleep in your jeans? Come on, I don’t bite!” Gerard laughed and folded his arms behind his head. “Want me to close my eyes?”

Frank scoffed a little and rolled his eyes before awkwardly pulling off his jeans and setting them aside. He bit his lip sharply as he pulled his shirt off and he felt Gerard’s eyes lingering over the deep bruise on his stomach. He cautiously moved into the other side of the bed and curled into himself a little.

“I’m sorry, Frankie. I didn’t think that you might be self-conscious about that.” Gerard frowned and reached over, messing his hair a little. “Get some sleep, okay?”

Frank nodded and gave Gerard a thankful smile for not pressing the issue. “G’nite.” He turned on his back, sighing as the soft bed hugged his body. It had been ages since he had slept in an actual bed. He laid there, staring up at the pattern of orange-yellow light that filtered in through the window from a nearby street lamp. Gerard’s breathing shortly evened out and fell into a slow steady rhythm and Frank knew he was asleep. He turned his head to the side and watched as Gerard’s chest rose and fell slowly, a soft blush in his cheeks. His eyes slid over the man’s beautiful face, which looked angelic as he slept, to his long slender throat and collarbones. He took in his pale creamy skin over his muscular chest and his face flushed deeper and he found himself intensely aroused. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard, shifting a bit awkwardly. He couldn’t help but think about Gerard’s strong hands on him, and his pale chest pressed tightly against his own, he imagined Gerard’s soft lips pressing against his skin and whispering in his ear…

Frank laid there in agony for an hour and a half, just thinking about Gerard and the many, many pleasurable ways which Frankie wanted him to touch him in, and with each thought he got more and more ragingly turned on. After what seemed like ages he couldn’t take it any longer. Gerard was in a dead sleep, if he was careful…

Frank held his breath and carefully slid his hand down his stomach and wrapped around himself. His eyes fluttered shut as he touched himself and he slowly began to stroke up and down, his mind getting lost in scenarios of Gerard kissing him and touching him. He moved his head to the side and opened his eyes, sliding them over Gerard’s back which was turned to him as the man slept on his side. He took in every muscle, every inch of his skin as he moved his hand over his length, swallowing hard and desperately trying to quiet the small whimpers that came from the back of his throat. When he could take it no longer he cautiously slipped out of the bed and into the bathroom, finishing himself off into a tissue, biting down on the back of his hand to quiet himself as he let out a tiny muffled moan of Gerard’s name. Once he had cleaned himself up, Frank tiptoed back into the bedroom and slid back into bed beside Gerard, turning to his side, away from Gerard, and exhaustedly closing his eyes, falling into a light sleep.

Gerard stared at the wall across from him, wide-eyed. He had been awake the entire time, but not wanting to mortify the poor kid he had pretended to be asleep. He had heard every tiny whimper that Frank had let out, and he had most _definitely_ heard the moan of his name that had come from the bathroom. He was flattered that Frankie was attracted to him. He could freely admit to himself that he was also attracted to Frankie, he had been since the first time the boy had let his guard down and given him that goofy smile of his. He constantly fought with himself in his mind to forget all the sexual thoughts he so desperately wanted to have about Frank, but with the boy three feet away from him, jerking off, that proved to be impossible. Gerard didn’t hold it against him, he was a teenager, that’s what teenagers did, but he definitely didn’t know what to do about it. He couldn’t pursue Frank, the boy was sixteen years old. Gerard was approaching his twenty-second birthday. They called that _statutory rape_. But Frank wasn’t like regular teenagers, he was so much more of an adult, having to grow up so quickly because of the situation life had thrust him into. The law didn’t give a rats ass about perceived age, only the technical one. He swallowed hard and tried to push all thoughts of it out of his mind for the time being, willing himself to fall asleep for real.


	4. Chapter Four

Gerard’s eyes fluttered open slowly and be blinked back the sunlight that flooded into his bedroom. He sighed softly and stretched, letting his head fall to the side. He frowned when he saw that the other side of his bed was empty and Frank was nowhere to be seen. Rubbing his face softly he sat up and looked around. “Frankie?” Gerard’s voice was thick with sleep and took a deep rumbling tone. He slid out of bed and tugged on the nearest pair of jeans, reaching into his dresser and snagging a random tee shirt pulling it over his head and he walked through the door and into the front room.

“’Morning!” Frank grinned at Gerard, a bright cheerful smile completely lighting up his face. He stood in the kitchen, a Clorox wipe in hand.

Gerard blinked and looked around at his place. “Shit! This place has literally never been this clean before.” He cocked his eyebrow steeply at Frank, confused. “You didn’t have to clean my apartment, Frank…”

Frank snorted a little and went back to scrubbing the countertops in the kitchen. “Yeah well you slept for like a _million_ hours. I had to do _something_ to keep busy!”

 _Something like a repeat performance of last night?_ Gerard found himself looking over Frank’s body quickly before scolding himself for the thought. “It’s _Saturday_. Normal people are _supposed_ to sleep in, dork.” Gerard smirked at Frank a little. “Thanks though, I mean the place really looks great!”

Frank beamed brightly, a sense of pride coming over him. He was glad that Gerard was happy. “You’re welcome. Happy to do it.”

Gerard smiled and nodded. “I’m gonna grab a quick shower, then let’s go out and do something today?”

Frank nodded rapidly, psyched that Gerard still wanted to hang out with him, and wasn’t getting sick of him hanging around. “Yeah, cool!”

Gerard nodded and sauntered off to the bathroom, stripping his clothes off and starting the shower, sighing deeply as the steam filled the room and obscured everything in sight. He stepped under the hot stream of water and contorted his body a bit, stretching out his muscles and sighing deeply as he relaxed. He shook his head a bit, letting beads of water fly from the ends of his hair and he gently leaned his forehead against the cool tiles of the wall. What was he going to do about the Frank situation? It was undeniable that they were both attracted to each other, but they couldn’t actually _be_ together, could they? Frank was underage! If he had been eighteen it would be fine, and the age difference wouldn’t matter a bit to Gerard, but dating an underage teenager was a completely different ballgame. Maybe he could just ignore his feelings for the time being, and pray to some merciful god that Frank didn’t bring it up. He wasn’t sure what the hell he would do if he did, but that was a bridge for later on.

Gerard had gotten so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t realize how long he had been in the shower until he heard Frank whining outside the door. “Jesus, dude! Take long enough? I gotta pee!”

Gerard snorted a little and speed washed his hair and body before jumping out and wrapping a towel around his waist. He scooped up his clothes and held the towel tightly as he opened the door. “Sorry!”

Frank nearly choked and died on the spot as he came face to face with a soaking wet toweled Gerard. He was instantly aroused and couldn’t help it as his eyes followed a bead of water that skipped and rolled down the man’s pale muscular chest. His eyes slid over his skin for a moment, and his head spun as he realized he wasn’t breathing. He let out a slow exhale and quickly adverted his eyes so Gerard wouldn’t catch him staring, but he couldn’t help the two (or five) peeks he took at Gerard’s abdomen and hips. He quickly jetted into the bathroom and closed the door tightly, slamming his eyes shut tightly and rubbing his face.

Gerard stood there stupidly for a moment just staring straight ahead. _Not. Smart. You are not a smart man, Gerard Way._ He scolded himself in his head before he walked to his bedroom and dried off, dressing once more. He sat down on the edge of his bed and ran his fingers through his hair. _You need to be more fucking careful, Way. One of these days you’re gonna do something stupid like that and the poor kid is going to take it as a hint, and then you’ll be in a shit load of trouble. Smarten the fuck up._ He sighed and shook his head a bit, standing up and walking back out to the front room.

Frank sat on the couch, his shoes on and ready to go, waiting for Gerard, a bit of a blush still tinting his cheeks as he picked at his nails a little. He looked up and spoke at the same time as Gerard, both of them blurting out quick apologies for the run-in. Frank giggled a little and rubbed the back of his head. “Hey do you mind if we stop at my house so I can change?”

Gerard smiled, thankful that Frank had changed the subject. “Not at all!” he pulled on his shoes and a light jacket as he walked out the door, locking it behind them.

*********

Frank swallowed hard and stared at his door for a moment before looking back at Gerard in the driver’s seat. “It’ll only be a second. You can come in if you want to, but if you value your health I wouldn’t recommend it.” He let out a strained laugh, trying to play it off like a joke, but when it came right down to it, it wasn’t much of one.

Gerard bit his lip a little. “Can I come in? I want to see.”

Frank chewed nervously on his lip and nodded a little. “Yeah, okay.” The two men got out of the car and Frank moved over to the door, unlocking it and pushing the door open. He did a quick scan and was relieved to see that his father was still gone. “This is it.”

Gerard stepped into the apartment and his eyes widened. “Jesus, Frank.” He took in the filthy apartment with beer cans and cigarette butts on every surface and he frowned. 

Frank’s face was flushed with embarrassment and he mumbled quietly under his breath that he was going to go change before darting from the room and disappearing into his bedroom. His eyes stung with tears and he wiped at them determined not to cry. Quickly he pulled on a semi-clean pair of pants and the green shirt that he still had from Gerard. He still had no idea who the hell the band was, and he always forgot to ask Gerard about them. He made a mental note to ask once they got back in the car, and he took a moment to collect himself before he walked out of the room, blushing as he came face to face with Gerard.

“Frank, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked to come in.” He looked past Frank at the threadbare mattress on the floor and he sighed before looking into his eyes with a soft smile. His palm cupped Frank’s cheek and he leaned down, kissing his forehead gently. “Don’t be embarrassed. This is _not_ a reflection on you.” He smiled and put his hand on Frank’s shoulder, leading him out of the apartment. “Come on, let’s go to the record store or something.”

Frank brightened considerably once they were outside and he nodded, silently thanking Gerard with his eyes. “Yeah that sounds cool.” The two men climbed into the car and Frank looked over at Gerard. “Gee, who is this band, anyway?” He tugged at the shirt a little.

Gerard looked at the shirt and chuckled a little bit. “Ahh, that would be The Decemberists.” He was no longer shocked when Frank didn’t know of a band, no matter how popular they were. 

“No shit, I can read the shirt.” Frank smirked. “I meant, who are they? What do they play?”

“Cheeky.” Gerard smirked and reached onto the floor by Frank’s feet to pull out a CD folder. He pulled out a Decemberists CD he had in there and popped it into the car’s stereo. “This one is my favorite.” He grinned and turned the stereo up, letting the music flood the car as he drove. He grinned and rolled the windows down. He grinned at Frank and spoke loudly over the introduction music. “One must always listen to Calamity Song with the volume up and the windows down!”

Frank laughed a little and leaned his head back against the seat, pulling his feet up to rest on the dashboard and his arm draped out the window a bit. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking in the melodic sounds from the band. As the singer’s vocals came in he opened his eyes and turned his head to watch Gerard. He loved watching the man drive, he always looked so peaceful. His breath was pulled out of his lungs a bit this time as he watched the man. His hair whipped around with the wind that stormed the car , blowing across his face, one piece laying straight across his sunglasses, which he reached up and flicked out of his face. Frank watched as Gerard’s lips moved silently, mouthing the lyrics of the song.

_Had a dream  
You and me and the war at the end times.  
And I believe  
California succumbed to the fault line.  
We heaved relief  
As scores of innocents died._

_And the Andalusian tribes  
Setting the lay of Nebraska alight  
‘til all that remains is the arms of the angel._

Frank bit his lip a little, grinning widely as Gerard started to sing the words instead of just mouth them. He shivered as Gerard’s voice floated over the stereo to his ears. The man had a stunning voice, strong and masculine that just completely commanded attention. He had never heard Gerard sing before, and he wondered why he didn’t do it more often. Frank looked out the window watching New Jersey fly by outside and for a moment he closed his eyes and pretended that it was his 18th birthday and he was getting the hell out of New Jersey forever. He grinned and nodded, making a resolution then and there that he would listen to this very song as he drove across the New Jersey boarder, never to return again. He felt eyes on him and he glanced back at Gerard, making brief eye contact and the grin spreading wider over his face. The song was infectious and Gerard turned it up louder, starting to sing even louder, now that he was aware that Frank was listening to him.

_Hetty Green  
Queen of supply-side bonhomie bone-drab  
If you know what I mean  
On the road  
It’s well advised to follow your own bag  
In the year of the chewable Ambien tab._

_And the Panamanian child  
Stands at the Dowager Empress’s side  
And all that remains is the arms of the angel  
And all that remains is the arms of the angels._

Frank let out a bright laugh, letting his head fall back and closing his eyes again, his hand fluidly moving through the wind out the window. He couldn’t remember a time in his life that he had ever been as happy as he was at this very moment. He wanted nothing more than to just drive with Gerard, listening to The Decemberists, for the rest of time. 

_When you’ve receded into loam  
And they’re picking at your bones  
We’ll come home._

Gerard looked over as he heard Frank’s laugh and a gasp caught in his throat, thankfully drowned out by the wind and loud music. Frank looked so serene in that moment, his hair blowing in the wind, his long delicate fingers tracing patterns in the wind, and the smile that filled his face nearly stopped Gerard’s heart from beating in his chest. He forced himself to tear his eyes away from Frank, focusing on the road in front of him, but every fiber in his entire being ached to lean across the seat, pulling Frank to him, and kiss him.

_Quiet now, will we gather to conjure the rain down?  
Will we now build a civilization below ground?  
And I’ll be crowned the community kick-it-around._

_And the Andalusian tribes  
Setting the lay of Nebraska alight  
‘til all that remains is the arms of the angels  
‘til all that remains is the arms of the angels._

The song finally wound down and Frank opened his eyes, the bright smile staying firmly plastered to his face. Gerard reached over and turned the music down a bit, letting the rest of the record play as they drove, but putting it at a volume where the two men could talk to each other and be heard.

“That was really awesome. I liked it a lot!” Frank beamed at Gerard as they pulled into the record store. They got out and walked into the building, grinning and talking actively with each other as they flipped through all sorts of records. They spent hours digging through the entire place, Gerard getting excited and a little bit squeaky when he would pull a vintage vinyl that he wanted out, or stumbling across an album by some Indie band that nobody had ever heard of but him. They swapped turns listening to songs on vinyl through the bulky headphones of the in-store record player, Gerard would sometimes drop little facts that he knew about some of the bands they saw albums for, and Frank soaked every little bit of it in.

Frank was determined to put his hands on every single record in the store. He marveled over the colorful or artistic album art on CD covers or vinyl sleeves. It was doubtful that he had heard of a single band that lined the shelves in the store unless Gerard had played something in his car, but he looked at each and every album that he picked up like it was a Monet hanging in the Louvre. He had loved every single song and every single band that Gerard had introduced him to, most of all The Decemberists. The lyrics from Calamity Song repeated in his head over and over, causing the hair on his arms to stand up straight. _You and me and the war at the end times._ In some silly way, that’s what it felt like for him. There was one year standing in between right now and freedom, and Frank felt like with Gerard by his side, he would knock the year out with vengeance and storm the world by force if he had to. Gerard made him feel invincible. When they were together Frank felt like nothing in the world could ever take him down, and the two of them could conquer anything they god damned wanted to. Frank looked over at Gerard who was listening to some track on the record player and he grinned. A glimmer of hope inside him thought about the lyrics again, _You and me and the war at the end times,_ and he wondered for a moment if on his eighteenth birthday, Gerard would run away with him.

“This is the best fucking birthday ever, Gerard.”

Gerard’s eyes shot wide open and he pulled the headphones off, hanging them back up. He couldn’t believe that he had totally forgotten it was Frank’s birthday. “Shit! It’s your birthday! Seventeen! Frankie I completely forgot it was today! Happy Birthday, kiddo!” He ruffled Frank’s hair and laughed as the man scowled and smoothed it back down.

“It’s cool! Birthdays don’t mean much anyway. Except the next one. The next one means everything.”

Gerard got chills that ran up his spine when Frank spoke about his eighteenth birthday. Eighteen did mean everything. He swallowed hard and moved over to Frank, wrapping his arms around the boy tightly, pulling him in close. His head swam as he breathed in the scent of the apple shampoo that he was sure he had borrowed that morning, and he buried his face in the top of Frank’s head, giving the boy a strong squeeze. His heart skipped a beat as he felt Frank melt into his embrace, and he felt their bodies fit together like puzzle pieces. Frank felt so perfect curling into his chest the way he was, and his warm breath making a steady rhythm on his neck was arousing. Before Gerard knew what the hell he was doing he leaned down and cautiously pressed his lips against Frank’s.

The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but to Frank it felt like eternity. Time and autonomous bodily functions had stopped entirely. His heart shuddered and his pulse stopped, his breath caught in his throat and his entire body was turned to ice and then set on fire all in a matter of three seconds. When Gerard pulled back from the kiss and leaned his forehead against Frank’s, he couldn’t stop the soft whimper that escaped the hollows of his chest.

“You’re right, Frankie.” Gerard mumbled softly, his body still pressed tightly against the younger man’s. “Eighteen means everything.”


	5. Chapter Five

Frank let a wide smile run across his face and he slid a hand to the side of Gerard’s neck, leaning up to kiss him again. His back curved in a graceful arch as he pushed his body tighter into Gerard’s and he was overcome with joy and elation as he felt Gerard’s hands move down his body to his sides. He kissed him deeply for a moment, but when he felt Gerard’s hands pushing at his body lightly he whimpered and allowed the man to push him away. He stared up at him curiously for a moment, panting softly.

“Frank…” Gerard swore at himself in his mind. He was so rip shit pissed for allowing himself to get caught up in the boy like that. Whether or not he had feelings for Frankie (he did), he was still under age, and it was still illegal. Even more than being upset with himself for having done it, he was heartbroken for Frank. He hadn’t meant to lead the boy on like that and having kissed him once was bad enough of a mixed-signal, let alone allowing the boy to kiss him a second time. “Frank. I-- let’s go home and get dinner and we can talk about things okay?” Gerard couldn’t bring himself to look into Frank’s eyes. He was sure that they were flooded with confusion and emotions, and he knew that if he saw the hurt in Frank’s eyes that he would want nothing more than to pull him to him again and kiss him until all of the hurt in the world went away, and he was positive that his self-resolve at the moment wouldn’t hold up, and he _would_ kiss the boy again, so he remained stoic, staring at the floor.

“Yeah.” Frank choked out the single syllable and breathlessly turned and walked out of the record store, his hand on his stomach as if he had just been punched and had the wind knocked out of him.

Gerard stayed where he was for a few moments longer, a sense of dread and self-loathing taking over his body. He forced his feet to follow after Frank and he watched as the boy climbed into the car, curling his knees to his chest. He sighed and got in the driver’s seat, starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot, heading back to his apartment. The car ride was torturously wordless between them, Frank just stayed still, staring out the window the entire drive home, and the only sounds were the continuation of the Decemberists CD that they had been playing earlier. Only the song was no longer the beautiful melodic song that Frank had so loved. It had turned into a melancholy song that pricked tears behind both of the men’s eyes, but neither of them could force themselves to turn it off.

_What were the words I meant to say before you left?  
When I could see your breath lead where you were going to  
maybe I should just let it be, and maybe it will all come back to me,  
sing, oh, January, oh._

Gerard pulled up in front of his apartment and before he was even able to shut the car off Frank was out of the car and walking to the door, physically unable to stand the close proximity and silence any longer. He wrapped his arms around his waist and waited for Gerard to come and unlock the door, and the moment that he did he walked inside, quickly searching for his things. He shouldered his bag and stuffed his notebook into it, moving to stand by the door. He stared at his shoes for a moment, contemplating on saying anything or simply just walking out the door.

Gerard sighed and moved to the door before Frank could leave and he closed it. “Frank, come on, we need to discuss this. Put your things down.”

Frank dropped his bag by the door but remained exactly where he stood, hugging himself and not making eye contact with Gerard. “Save it, Gerard. I really don’t want to hear your excuse.”

“Excuse me? What?” Gerard knit his eyebrows.

“About why you kissed me! Let me guess, you felt _sorry_ for me? Poor little Frankie all alone in this fucking world, give him a kiss and make him feel special for a moment? Well _fuck you_ , Gerard! I don’t need anybody’s fucking pity!” Frank spat the words out like poison, his features hardening.

Gerard gasped softly. He had never seen this kind of force and strength in Frank. There was a part of him that was proud of Frank for standing up for himself, for asserting himself and not letting someone take advantage of him for once. Another, much larger, part of Gerard was furious at the allegations. 

“PITY? You think I _pity_ you, Frank?” Gerard’s jaw dropped, insulted at the very insinuation that he had kissed the man out of pity. “That’s bull-fucking-shit and you know it, Frank. I don’t do a god damn thing out of pity!”

“Oh _please_! Get off your fucking high horse, Gerard!” Frank was beyond angry now. He stalked further into the room, coming face to face with Gerard, his eyes burning with fury. “If you don’t pity me, what the fuck has all of this been about, huh? You felt sorry for me because my dad is shit! You’re such a fucking bleeding-heart!”

Gerard growled a bit and narrowed his eyes dangerously at Frank. “I helped you because I fucking _care_ about you, shit-head!” He scoffed a little and rolled his eyes. “And I kissed you because I am fucking attracted to you, Frank. Grow the fuck up an stop being a martyr.”

“Oh come off it!” Frank knew that he was being unfair to Gerard, but things had gotten too heated, too fast, and he couldn‘t help it as he screamed at Gerard, beyond hurt. “If you kissed me because you want me, then why did you push me away from you when I kissed you back?” He shook his head. “Stop fucking lying and own up to it, Gerard! FUCK!”

“BECAUSE YOU’RE _SEVENTEEN_ , FRANK. _SHIT!_ ” Gerard’s hand moved like a flash and he grabbed Frank’s wrists, pulling him and turning him in one fluid motion, pinning him tightly against the wall. His large hands wrapped easily around Frank’s fragile wrists and he pinned him with easy. His eyes had gone black with a mix of lust and rage and he leaned down, hissing in Frank’s ear, hotly. “I pushed you away because I get very carried away, very easily. The things I want to do to you, Frank… would put me in jail.” He swallowed hard, feeling the intense heat radiating off of the two of them, both of them panting softly, their breath mixing between them. He looked into Frank’s eyes and was sucker punched by the fear he saw in them. Gerard’s fierce grip on Frank’s wrists loosened, but he didn’t let go entirely. He closed his eyes, feeling shame wash over him for having been so rough with the boy. “I want so badly to be with you, Frank. I want to show you what it’s like to be touched by someone who loves you. I want to show you that it doesn’t always have to _hurt_ … but I can’t do that.” He breathed out slowly and rested his forehead against Frank’s, his lips mumbling a mere inch away from Frank’s. “Not while you’re underage. They’d take you away from me, Frankie.”

Frank’s entire body dropped out and his knees went weak. He was glad that Gerard was pinning him against the wall still or else he was sure his legs would simply have given out. He let out a soft pleading whimper as Gerard spilled his secret and he closed his eyes, tears welling up behind them and sliding down his flushed cheeks. He somehow found a voice, but when he spoke it came across pathetically sad. “I need you, Gerard… _please_.”

Gerard closed his eyes tightly, trying to ignore the swimming that his vision was doing. “Frankie… don’t do this to me…” He whispered carefully, as if the words would take form and turn into weapons, slaughtering the both of them where they stood like some sort of pathetic Shakespearean tragedy. He knew that he should let go of Frank and take a step backwards, that being that close in proximity to him was only making the aching in his chest intensify, but Frank drew him in like a magnet, and Gerard didn’t _want_ to let go. Rationally he knew that Frank’s love and need for him was a product of being an abused child. He knew in his mind that Frank was attaching himself to Gerard so strongly because the man had shown him levels of kindness that no other human being in his life had done. But rationality could fuck all. His heart knew that Frank _did_ want to be with him, and that he wanted equally or more-so to be with Frank. 

Frank closed his eyes and pulled weakly at his wrists, and Gerard hesitantly let him go, taking a step back. Not necessarily wanting to put any amount of distance between himself and the young man, but he would never pin Frank down against his will. Frank wiped at his cheeks slowly, staring at the ground, still leaning against the wall. “I need to be with you, Gerard.” He mumbled softly. “I’m falling in love with you, doesn’t that mean anything?”

Gerard let out a shaky breath. “It means so much, Frank, that you are able to trust me, that you’re able to trust _anyone_ is a testament to how strong you are. I want to be with you, Frank. I do!” He exhaled slowly and looked up at the boy, finally. “But the fact remains--”

“NO!” Frank shook his head and moved to Gerard again. “Fuck the facts, Gerard. This is different between us, you _know_ that! So we have to hide who we are to each other for a year, that’s fine! I can handle that… but _please_ Gerard, _please_ don’t push me away!” Frank was in hysterics now, tears streaming down his face and his words punctuated by sharp sobs as his fingers clutched to Gerard’s chest desperately. “You’re all I have…”

Gerard closed his eyes against tears that threatened and wrapped his strong muscular arms around Frank’s small frame, just wanting to calm him down for a moment. He rubbed his back lightly and rested his chin on top of his head. “Shh, Frankie… sweetheart, please just take a few breaths for me, okay? You’re going to have a panic attack. I’m not going anywhere, I’m not going to leave you… just calm down so we can talk about this and figure it out, okay?” He continued to stroke Frank’s back comfortingly, the sight of the boy so upset wrenching his heart. He would do anything in the world to take that hurt away from him, and the fact that Gerard himself was the source of the pain was unforgivable to the man. He smiled as he felt Frank struggle to take a few breaths and slowly but surely the boy’s breathing evened out and his sobbing was reduced to the occasional sniffle. “There…” Gerard smiled a little and held Frank out at arms length. “Now let’s figure this out, okay?” He took Frank by the arm and led him over to the couch, sitting down beside him.

Frank folded his legs underneath himself and wrapped his arms around his stomach, making the small boy seem substantially smaller. Gerard let out a soft sigh and rubbed his face. “I don’t know what to do, Frankie. How do we go forward without this hurting us both?”

Frank shrugged a little and stared at his knees. “We just be _together_ Gerard. If we have to hide it when we’re in public, so be it. But when we’re here, alone, why can’t we just be together?” He looked up at Gerard, his eyes full of fright that Gerard may actually have some valid reason. “I won’t tell a soul, I swear. Who would I tell, anyway?”

Gerard thought hard about it. His mind instantly rifled through countless scenarios in which they were found out. If they were, the state would intervene. Gerard would be jailed, and Frank’s life would be dissected and pulled apart, and his secrets would come tumbling out. They would take Frank and put him in a foster home. They would be ripped apart, and there would be not a god damned thing that Gerard would be able to do about it. At the same time, he couldn’t bear to see Frank in this kind of emotional agony. He wanted to protect Frank from anything and everything that hurt him, and he could see how deeply Frank really did need this. Aside from Frank, _Gerard_ needed this. His life had been so lonely before Frank had come into it. He worked every day at a crappy job, he had dropped out of school, he had no boyfriend or girlfriend to speak of, and hadn’t for ages. Shit, when it came right down to it, he didn’t even really have any friends outside of Ray at the diner, and even that was just out of convenience, not true camaraderie. Then Frank had come along and thrown a wrench into Gerard’s mundane life. He gave the man a sense of purpose, someone to care about and to love, and Gerard found himself dreading dropping Frank off at home as much as Frank did, not just for the fact that he was sending Frank back into hell every night, but whenever he left Frank and drove home, his apartment seemed so god damn empty without him there. He missed Frank’s chirpy laugh that brightened the place up, he missed the dorky way he would lean into the controller when they played video games, the way he would mouth words slowly as he read something in his head, and he missed the way he could barely get Frank to shut up when he got to talking about the book he was reading for English class. He looked over at Frank and his eyes met the young boy’s, the two of them hopelessly searching each other for the answers. After a moment of staring at each other, Gerard spoke, his voice cracking softly. “Come here.” With that he reached out and took Frank’s arm, pulling the boy into his lap so that Frank sat sideways on him. He wrapped his arms around his waist and held him tightly, leaning down and kissing the back of his shoulder gently. He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead where he had kissed, allowing Frank to lean his slender body against him. “Okay.”

Frank’s breath hitched and he swallowed hard, his body trembling slightly. “Okay?”

Gerard nodded, keeping his eyes closed and his forehead against Frank’s shoulder. “On two conditions, Frank.” He finally picked his head up and lifted one hand to gently turn Frank’s face to look at him. “The first is that outside of this apartment, the world knows us as just friends. I can’t risk them taking you away from me, Frank. I love you far too much to let that happen.”

Frank nodded numbly, he would agree to whatever the hell Gerard wanted, as long as Gerard would be his, and he would be Gerard’s. “What’s the second?”

Gerard steeled himself and swallowed tightly. The second part was going to be hell on earth. “I won’t have sex with you, Frank. Not until you’re eighteen.” He breathed the words out and closed his eyes again. It was going to be torturous for the both of them to restrain themselves so much, when already all Gerard wanted to do was lay Frank down in his bed and make love to him. He opened his eyes again and slowly slid his hand over Frank’s cheek. “But I promise you this, Frankie… on your eighteenth birthday, I’m going to take you away from here. We’ll get in the car and we’ll just fucking leave. We’ll drive as far as a tank of gas will take us and wherever we are when we run out of gas, that’s where we’ll go.” Gerard smiled and leaned down, softly kissing Frank’s trembling lips. “I’ll take you to the middle of the town and I’ll scream it at the top of my lungs that I love you, and I’ll take you to wherever we find to stay and I’ll make love to you, I promise you that, but not until then.”

Frank’s entire body trembled and went on pins and needles at Gerard’s promise. He longed so badly to have sex with him, to feel Gerard’s strong body above his, to feel him caressing him and thrusting inside of him, but if kisses and cuddles were all that he could have for the next year, he would take them and thank God for them. He tried to speak, to agree to Gerard’s conditions, but his voice just wouldn’t work, so he nodded, leaning his face into Gerard’s touch a bit more. After a moment he ever so cautiously leaned over the man and ghosted a kiss over his lips. It was a barely felt kiss, but held all the fire and wanton need behind it as the most passionate and heated kiss ever imagined and it was all it took to break Gerard’s firm resolve.


	6. Chapter Six

For the next two months, their routine returned to normal. Frank poured himself into his studies, final exams were coming up and he couldn’t afford to fail any of them. His life was set on a course, and it all hinged on finishing High School half a semester early so that on his eighteenth birthday, in the late spring on the following year, he could be finished with school and could take off with Gerard without the consequence of not having his High School diploma. Gerard picked him up from school every day and they would drive to his apartment, the both of them fidgeting until the door was shut and Frank would fling himself into Gerard’s arms, mumbling the highlights of his day between wonderfully desperate kisses and fondling hands. Frank loved the way Gerard would giggle as he kissed him causing a clashing of teeth, and Gerard adored the way Frank would stand on his tip-toes and wrap his arms around his neck, before stumbling to the couch where he would fall into Gerard’s lap and lean his entire weight into him. 

Afternoons with Gerard were perfect, to Frank. Once they had calmed down from their heated tryst, they would talk for an hour about music and books and art, their hands intertwined together, fingers performing an intricate dance until they found a perfect position. Frank would cook dinner, or Gerard would order something in and they would eat until they were stuffed. Once dinner was cleaned up, Frank would pull Gerard back to the couch and slip into his lap, his hands moving over his chest slowly as he peppered kisses along his collarbone and throat, and Gerard would purr with soft moans and slide his hands over Frank’s back or thighs. His neck was his weak spot and Frank damn well knew it by now. It was moments like that, when Frank’s mouth sucked softly at the curve of his neck, or his teeth gently scraped over his adams apple that Gerard found it the hardest to resist picking the small boy up and bringing him to his bedroom to ravish him. He would twist and moan under Frank, letting out feeble half-hearted requests for the boy to stop, feeling his smirks against his skin, a dull aching desire in the pit of his stomach and a hardening cock begging him to push it further with Frank, but he never allowed himself to. Frank would whine and press his hips into Gerard’s tightly, feeling the man’s arousal pressed against his thigh, but Gerard’s resolve to hold out was firm and unwavering. He knew that he should limit the amount of time in which Frank spent lustfully grinding against him, but his mind went blank so fast and it was all the could do to keep control of his own body.

After a while of Frank kissing his neck and sending chills through his entire body he would finally rip his mind to the present and would reach his hand up and slid his through Franks hair softly and he pulled him back slightly. This was how Frank knew that Gerard had reached his limit and that pushing him any further would only make things difficult for the two of them. Frank would lean up and place one last precious kiss on Gerard’s lips and smile before moving off of him and gathering his things to go home. Gerard would drive him home and drop him off, watching with a desperate longing and aching in his stomach as Frank walked slowly up the driveway and hesitated a moment to compose himself before walking inside. Some nights Gerard would just remain parked there for a while after he had dropped Frank off, just watching the flickering hazy blue of the TV light against the blinds and praying for Frank’s safety. He would smoke a cigarette and watch shadows float around the apartment. Some nights he couldn’t bring himself to watch and he would drive away the second Frank was inside.

Frank would always instantly go to his bedroom and work on his homework, praying that he would get to finish it before any drama arose in the house. He would stomach his father’s insults and assaults night after night, and when the man finally fell into bed for the night, Frank would sit by the window sill, staring out at the street longingly, just waiting for sleep to catch up with him, and when it did he would lay down on the filthy mattress and toss and turn in a fitful sleep until the morning. He always woke up early and would look over his school work a second time before dressing for school and packing his bag. Before he left he would grab a pencil and open his closet door, a grin spreading over his face when he saw the growing number of hash marks on the grungy white wall inside. He would make another tick in the series, and rush out of the house to wait for the school bus, satisfied that he had made it another day closer to the one year mark.

Frank stood, waiting for the bus on a Friday morning, listening to the old clunky iPod that Gerard had filled with all sorts of indie and classic rock music and given to him. He saw the bus rumbling down the street and he sighed a little and got ready to face another very long eight hours before he would see Gerard again. He climbed on the bus when it pulled over for him and slunk his way to an abandoned seat, sliding down a little and pulling his knees up, absentmindedly staring out the windows and pretending he didn’t hear the snickering or the insults that were hurled his way under the breaths of the other kids. When the bus pulled up a the school he let them all file off first, staying in his seat and ignoring the wads of paper or gum they would throw at him, and he rolled his eyes and once everyone was off the bus he would follow suit and hug his bag to his side as he walked into the school. 

Classes always went by fast for Frank. He loved learning things, he loved getting his homework back and seeing the things he had done well, and what he needed to work harder on. He especially loved English class. He would immerse himself in the discussions of the books they were reading, never actually speaking up to join the discussion, but in his mind he spouted off profound and eloquent speeches about the topic. English class was always right before lunch-block, and Mr. Kimball the teacher would allow Frank to sit in the classroom during lunch and they would talk and discuss all the things that Frank was too shy to bring up in class. Mr. Kimball was Frank’s favorite teacher in the school. He was in his mid-fifties, a plump man with a red face and a severely receding hairline half-heartedly covered up by a tragic comb-over. He wore tweed jackets with leather patches on the elbows, and his button up shirt almost always had some kind of condiment stain on it, and that alone endeared him to Frank. The kids in the school all said horrible things about Mr. Kimball in the hallways, did rude impressions of him and the way he would get so excited about discussion topics, and called him disparaging names, but Frank didn’t give two shits what the other kids did anymore. He loved Mr. Kimball as a teacher, and he always looked forward to sitting in the classroom with him during the 40 minute lunch-block and talking. Their semester’s final book that they were reading was Frank’s favorite subject to discuss, and they found themselves both talking animatedly about Joseph Heller and Catch-22. 

Mr. Kimball had seen such growth in Frank in two short months. He hadn’t questioned what the dramatic turn-around in Frank’s life had been, but he was glad that it was there. Frank was his favorite student, it was hard-pressed to find a teenager interested in reading classic literature, let alone one that was willing to discuss it and form their own ideas and opinions. It was Mr. Kimball who had helped Frank figure out how to graduate early and had spoken to the boy’s teachers and together they had all worked out a way to double Frank’s work-load and accelerate him through their classes.

Once the lunch-block was over, Frank flew through the rest of the day, and when the final bell rang he ran the length of the hallway out to the parking lot, thrilled to see Gerard again, even if he had to wait until they were safely closed inside his apartment to kiss him. He looked immediately to where Gerard’s car was always parked and he blinked dumbly when it wasn’t there. The space was empty and the bus was pulling away from the school. His heart sank and he frowned, sitting down on the curb, waiting.

He heard footsteps approach behind him, but he didn’t think anything of it until a swift boot connected with his shoulder and threw him forward onto the ground.

“What’s the matter, is your faggot boyfriend not here to pick you up?” He heard the mob of teenage boys laughing and sneering at him and he jumped to his feet, narrowing his eyes.

“Fuck off!” Frank growled and clenched his fists angrily.

The boys scowled and cracked their knuckles, not used to Frank standing up for himself. “What the fuck did you say?” One of them stepped forward, a senior boy who played on the hockey team. “Let me help you shut your god damn mouth, Iero!” He grabbed Frank and pulled his fist back before letting it fly, connecting straight to Frank’s face.

Frank felt his nose start to bleed and he fell back, stumbling over his bag and falling to the pavement, holding his face where he had been hit. Just like that, the mob descended on him and five boys kicked and punched, letting out their pent up rage on Frank’s body. Frank let out a scream of anger and he lashed out, connecting a few solid hits but in the end it was five on one, and Frank curled into himself, trying to protect what he could of his body. He cried out as a particularly forceful foot kicked him in the groin and it was all he could do not to be sick as pain flooded his body.

“HEY BACK FUCK OFF!” There was screaming and yelling, and a pounding of feet on pavement as the kids ran away from the approaching man. Gerard swore under his breath and bolted to Frank who laid still on the pavement, clutching his stomach. He immediately moved behind Frank’s head and cradled him gently, tears flying to his eyes, positive that he would never forgive himself for being late to pick the boy up. “Frankie, Frankie look at me, okay?” He swallowed hard but let out a relieved sigh when Frank opened his eyes and groaned. “Shit, Frank… fuck! Shit, I am so fucking sorry!” He bit on the inside of his cheek to keep himself from crying and carefully helped Frank to his feet. “I got held up at work, I am SO sorry!”

Frank shook his head a bit, his body reeling in agony but he managed a weak smile to Gerard. “It’s not your fault, Gee.” He wanted so badly to lean up and kiss him right then and there, but it was against their rules, and he knew that. “Can we go home, now?” He blushed softly.

“Of course.” Gerard choked back his emotions and carefully helped Frank into the car before driving off back to his apartment. He helped him inside and shut the door before moving the boy into the bathroom and grabbing a clean washing cloth which he soaked in cool water and wrung out before gingerly cleaning up Frank’s bloody nose. “God Frankie, baby I’m so sorry. I love you.”

Frank blushed and shook his head a little. “I love you too, Gee. You don’t have to be sorry. I’m all right.” He gave Gerard a brave smile, even though the washing cloth stung like hell as Gerard cleaned off and bandaged a cut on his shin. Once they were finished they moved back to the front room and Frank slid his arms around Gerard’s neck, giving him a few soft kisses. When Gerard only half-heartedly returned them he frowned and stepped back moving to the kitchen to start cooking them something to eat.

Gerard stared at the ground in shame. He wanted to kiss Frank back so desperately, but felt as if he didn’t deserve to. He had let Frank down so badly, and the boy had suffered for it. He had _promised_ Frank that he would be there waiting for him every day when he got out of school, and he had broken his promise. He didn’t deserve to kiss Frank today.

Frank smiled at Gerard from the kitchen. He knew the man was struggling with what he had just seen, and Frank didn’t blame him in the slightest. He would let Gerard recover from it all before he pressed anything further. He finished up dinner and pulled Gerard to the little card table in the corner, sitting him down and putting a plate in front of him. “Let’s eat… and then you promised to play me that new Wilco CD you got.” Frank kissed the top of his head before sitting down across from him and eating.

Gerard gave Frank a thankful smile and he nodded, eating the food that Frank had made. Once they had both scarfed down the food they sat back on the couch and Frank leaned against Gerard’s shoulder, laying his head down and sliding his hand into Gerard’s as the man put on the CD. He closed his eyes and just sat there in the comfort and safety of Gerard’s home, sighing happily.

When finally it was time to go, Frank frowned and stood up, gathering his things and slinging his bag over his shoulder, walking out to the car with Gerard. They drove in silence, Gerard not even bothering to turn on the radio, and when Frank turned his head to watch him drive, the man looked so far away from him that it made his heart ache. His eyes searched Gerard’s face before he simply reached over and slid one hand over top of Gerard’s which rested lightly on the gear shift. They didn’t need to exchange any words, the soft touch from Frank was enough to let Gerard know that he was all right, and enough to let him cut himself the tiniest bit of slack. When Gerard pulled up in front of Frank’s apartment he cautiously pulled Frank’s hand up to his lips and kissed his knuckles sweetly.

“I’ll see you on Monday, okay?”

Frank smiled and nodded. “See you Monday.”

As Frank walked into his apartment he looked around and knit his eyebrows. His father was nowhere to be found. He walked through the apartment and not seeing any sign of the man he instantly ran to the closet in the front room, throwing it open. His father’s poker case was gone, and he only ever took it out when he went to Phil’s for the weekend in the city. Frank’s heart shed a million pounds and he beamed and ran back outside to tell Gerard, frowning when he saw his car in the far distance, driving away.

Frank walked back inside and a grin fell over his face. He decided to get his homework done first and then walk over to Gerard’s apartment later, that way they could have the entire weekend to be together without the interruption of Frank having to sequester himself to the kitchen table to do his homework mid-Saturday. Frank sat down in his room on the floor and pulled his books out, starting to work.

There wasn’t much homework to be done and in an hour and a half it was all finished with. Frank stood up and stretched, wincing as his back cracked and his side ached slightly from the attack earlier. He brushed it off and grabbed a few changes of clothes and crammed them into his bag, locking up the apartment and starting the twenty minute walk to Gerard’s.

When Frank finally arrived he walked up to the door and knocked, beaming brightly and shifting from side to side, waiting. He heard music playing from inside and the dulled sounds of laughing through the door and he knit his eyebrows, knocking again. When he door opened he blinked, shocked for a moment, as the tall, lanky and blonde boy that stood there was more certainly _not_ Gerard.

“Can I help you?” The boy snorted a little and smirked at the sincerely confused look on Frank’s face.

“I- uh.. I’m--” Frank stammered a bit and swallowed hard, he had never met anyone else in Gerard’s life except for Ray, and Ray wasn’t in Gerard’s _apartment_ , only in the diner. “I’m looking for G-Gerard…”

The boy snorted again and outwardly just started laughing at the panicked look on Frank’s face. “GEE! COMPANY!” He walked away from the door, calling out to Gerard in a sing-song voice and leaving Frank standing stupidly in the doorway.

“WHO IS IT?” Gerard’s voice shouted back from the bedroom are and the blonde kid collapsed down on the sofa, laying there and laughing a little.

“I don’t fucking know, some girl scout!” He snickered and rubbed his face.

“What?” Gerard sounded completely confused as he walked out of the bedroom, his eyes landing on Frank. “FRANK!” He blushed brightly and smoothed his clothes down. “Come in, don’t be silly! You don’t have to stand in the doorway, come in, shut the door!” He smiled at Frank and ruffled his hair a bit. “Mikey, don’t be such a shit!”

Mikey just responded by snorting from the couch, flipping through a magazine.

Gerard rolled his eyes and he smiled at Frank. “Frank this is my little brother Mikey. Mike, this is my friend Frank.” He slapped Mikey’s feet and the boy sat up, making room for other people on the couch.

Frank blinked in shock, it was only then that he noticed the haze to the room and the strong odor of marijuana. “I can go-- if you’re busy…”

“Nonsense!” Gerard gave Frank a wide grin, “stay, please stay!” He patted the sofa next to him.

Mikey eyed Frank curiously and punched Gerard in the arm lightly. “What the hell, bro, I thought we were gonna hang out!”

Gerard snorted and waved Mikey off. “You don’t have to leave cuz Frankie came over! We can all hang out together, right?” He smirked. “Frankie won’t tell on us, will ya’ Frankie?” Out of nowhere Gerard just started giggling, causing Mikey to start giggling, and Frank stared at the two of them, confused as to what was so funny.

Frank shook his head rapidly and blushed. He had never really been around people who smoked weed before. He knew a lot of kids at school did it, but he had never really been in the same room with drugs before. “N-no. I don’t care.” He sat there nervously, picking at the cuff of his hoodie, not sure how to act around people who were doing drugs. 

Gerard seemed to notice how nervous Frank was and he gave him a smile. “I’m sorry Frankie. If I knew you were coming over, we wouldn’t be stoned right now.”

Mikey scoffed a little. “Speak for yourself! I brought this shit over to smoke with you, and I intend to do it with _or_ without you!” He snorted a little and the snap and flash of a lighter caught Frank’s attention. He looked over and watched the man as he held a glass pipe in his hand and circled the flame on top of the bowl, inhaling deeply as he did so. The man held his breath for what seemed like ages before he exhaled a long stream of thick white smoke. Mikey smirked at Frank and handed the pipe over to Gerard.

Gerard held it awkwardly, staring at the pipe and then at Frank for a moment, debating whether he should or shouldn’t be smoking weed in front of Frank. “Uh..”

Frank gave him a little smile and waved it off. “It’s okay, Gerard. I don’t mind. Besides, Mikey brought it over to smoke with you, so… it would be rude not to.” In his mind that made perfect sense and was only good manners to Frank, but Gerard and Mikey both busted out laughing as if Frank had just said the funniest joke imaginable. 

“Yeah, don’t be rude, Gee!” Mikey snorted through giggles and Gerard chuckled and lit up the pipe, taking a long drag from it before handing it right back to Mikey as he exhaled.

Mikey took the pipe and smirked, holding it out to Frank, his eyebrow raised. Frank nearly went catatonic. They talked all the time in school about peer pressure and people offering drugs to you, but Frank had never dealt with it before, _nobody_ had ever offered drugs to Frank in his entire life. He stammered a little, unsure of what to do but was cut off from speaking by Gerard pushing the pipe back to Mikey.

“Nuh-uh! He’s too young for this shit, Mikey. We shall not be contributing to the delinquency of this particular minor today.” He snorted a little as Mikey shrugged and took another hit from the pipe. Frank knit his eyebrows at Gerard, unsure whether he wanted to jump on him and kiss him for being so honorable and saving him from looking like a floundering dumbass, or hit him for being a chastising ass. _Contributing to the delinquency of this particular minor?? You don’t seem to mind too god damn much when I’m in your lap and your panting and moaning like a--_ Frank shook his head a little and gave Gerard a little smile, sitting back and listening to the music and watching the boys as they smoked and chatted.

Mikey, it came out in conversation, was a vagrant. Or, as the stoned man had put it, he “didn’t like to be tied down to one place for long.” He traveled around the country aimlessly, meeting other patchouli-drenched “wanderer’s” like himself and living in camps, working odd jobs for a month or so at a time before picking up and taking off again to somewhere new and exciting. Frank learned that he was just passing through town to see his brother before he was off to Iowa to meet up with some friends of his. He had showed up at Gerard’s doorstep unannounced and was staying the night before taking off in the morning. Frank listened to both of them chatting about people they both knew and listened to Mikey’s tales of the road, watching the two of them got completely ripped.

Frank sat there, after a while growing to enjoy the smell of the marijuana, and his mind wandered a little, thinking about what it was like to smoke weed. He had never tried it before, but he was sure he was just about the only one on the planet that hadn’t. After a while and loosening up a little he grinned and turned to Gerard while Mikey excused himself to go to the bathroom. Once he heard the door shut he leaned over and stole a gentle kiss from Gerard, snickering a little as the man let out a high pitched giggle and reached up, caressing Frank’s cheek as he kissed him back. Frank pulled back only slightly and mumbled, giggling a little. “I want to try it, Gee…”

Gerard scoffed and shook his head, giggling when he got the spins. “Oh Frankie-boy… my beautiful sweet little Frankie.” He let his hand fall from his cheek and he sat back a little, taking a long drink of water. “Always in such a rush to grow up.”

Frank scoffed a little, indignantly and sat up straight. “Oh come on! Let me try it!”

Gerard turned his head to stare at him, sighing. “It’s not a good idea, Frankie.”

Just then Mikey walked back into the living room and watched the two carefully. “What’s going on?”

Frank looked over at Mikey, knowing he could definitely get him on his side. “I asked Gerard if I could try it, and he said no.”

Mikey snorted a little and sat back down on the couch, starting to roll a few joints into long slender tubes. “Such a hypocrite, Gee. Remember the first time we tried it? We were WAY younger than this one is!”

“That’s not the point, Mikes.” Gerard chucked a little.

Frank arched his eyebrow and decided to use his position as the only actually non-stoned one in the place to his advantage. He could _definitely_ out-smart the two of them in their condition. “Besides, Gerard. I could get weed whenever I wanted to at school. It’s everywhere, and all I would have to do is ask the right person and then buy some and I could do it anyway. Wouldn’t you rather the first time I try it be in a safe environment where you can watch after me?” Frank smirked and stared straight at Gerard, knowing he had hit a home-run with that one. “I’m gonna try it one way or another, it could be right now while I’m safely here with you and not going anywhere, or it could be by myself with drugs that came from god knows where and--”

“Alright, alright! Shit!” Gerard snorted and laughed, reaching over to ruffle Frank’s hair. “You’re a persistent one, Frankie, I’ll give you that. But you do make a good point. I _would_ rather you do it in the safety of my place. I will let you try it today, but you are _not_ to make a habit of this, Frank, okay?” Gerard gave him a lopsided smile and sighed a little. Frank nodded rapidly, promising.

Mikey laughed a little. “Pushover.” He smirked and stood up, smoothing his clothes down and grinning at Gerard. “I’m going out for more snacks, be back in like 20 minutes. Do your worst to the kid!” He snorted and shoved his feet into shoes, walking out the door. 

Frank grinned a little, not only about having won the battle, but about having a precious twenty minutes alone with Gerard. Suddenly he was nervous, he wasn’t sure what to expect with his first time trying it. He scratched at the side of his thumb a little and eyed the pipe that was laying on the table. “H-… how do I… um…”

Gerard chuckled softly and shook his head. “Not with that. Come on, let’s start you off a little easier.” He reached over and laid his hand on Frank’s cheek, leaning close to him and giving him a sweet kiss. “Don’t be nervous, Frankie. I won’t let anything bad happen to you, I promise.” He mumbled softly against his lips and smiled again. “I’m glad you’re here.” Frank blushed and smiled back, giving him another kiss before the man sat back and reached to the table, picking up one of the joints that Mikey had rolled. He took Frank’s hand and moved to sit on the floor by the stereo with him. “Just like a cigarette, just hold it in your lungs longer before you exhale.” He picked up a lighter and lit the joint, leaning his head back as he dragged on it, the end flaring up and making soft but crisp popping sounds. He held the smoke in his lungs for a moment before exhaling and handing it to Frank.

Frank held it awkwardly for a second before he swallowed hard and tentatively brought it to his lips, sucking softly at the end and watching the orange tip flare before he breathed in a bit of air. He was immediately caught in a coughing jag, his lungs on fire as he gasped and wheezed for air, coughing until his face was bright red and a thin sheen of sweat covered his forehead. He looked over at Gerard with wide watering eyes once he had finally caught his breath. “W-what the hell was that? What did I do wrong?” He cleared his throat a few times, the stinging sensation still tickling the back of his throat.

Gerard smiled and shook his head, rubbing Frank’s back comfortingly. “You’re just not used to it, Frankie. It’s all right. You don’t have to do this you know.”

Frank shook his head and bit his lip. “I want to try…” He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before bringing the joint up to his lips again and trying once more. He was able to take in a full drag this time, and he held it for a few seconds before exhaling it slowly. It was strange, it wasn’t like what he thought it would feel like. He had always just assumed that it hit you right away, but he didn’t really feel much of anything, except maybe a little dizzy from the coughing. Maybe he had done it wrong! He took another drag on it, and after exhaling, tried a third time quickly.

“Woah, woah!” Gerard’s eyes widened and he chuckled, taking it from Frank and letting out a stoned little giggle. “Easy now, baby.” He smiled and leaned over to Frank kissing him slowly, tasting the lingering smoke in his mouth and letting out a soft sigh. He pulled back and looked to Frank cautiously. “You okay?”

Frank blinked a little and nodded. His tongue felt a little fuzzy and his fingertips and toes tingled, but was all right, surely. He watched as Gerard laid down with his head next to the speakers of the stereo, a calm look on his face as he closed his eyes and listened to the music. He watched as Gerard brought the joint to his lips and slowly inhaled before pulling it back. He watched as the man exhaled a long steady stream straight up above him and he loved the way it curled and drifted from his lips and hung in a haze above him. The smooth smoke slipping past Gerard’s lips, and the way Gerard stretched his neck out a little, letting out a tiny satisfied moan was perhaps the most erotic thing Frank had ever seen in his life before, and he made it his solemn vow then and there, he _would_ get Gerard to make love to him sooner than later. He ached for it, his entire body craved Gerard’s, and he would do whatever it took to crack him. Frank moved to lay next to Gerard, taking the joint and replicating Gerard’s motions, closing his eyes as he let a heavy feeling take over his body.

Gerard started to hum the soft guitar line to the song, his hand reaching out and groping around until it found Frank’s, sliding his fingers between the boy’s and immersing himself in the music. When the lyrics came in he started to sing along, a bit louder than he thought he was, seeing as his head was right next to the speaker. He let his head turn to look at Frank, a dopey grin on his face as he sang along with Pink Floyd.

_How I wish, how I wish you were here.  
We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,  
Running over the same old ground.  
What have we found? The same old fears.  
Wish you were here.”_

They laid there like that together, just listening to the music as they finished the joint, and then remained laying there until Mikey walked back through the door with bags of snacks. Mikey snickered at the state of the two men on the floor and he sat down on the couch again. “How’d ya do, kid?”

Frank rolled his eyes behind his eyelids, but couldn’t help the dopey smile that was plastered to his face. He was painfully aware that he was smiling like and idiot, but no amount of self-awareness would take it off. “Not bad.”

Gerard snickered and finally sat up. “I’m done for the night, I couldn’t handle another if I tried to.” He laughed and smiled at Frank. “How are you feeling, Frankie-boy?”

“Kinda dizzy and fuzzy and like I could eat the shit out of a sandwich.” Frank scratched the back of his neck a little, giggling.

Mikey snorted and dug around in the bag. “You’re in luck, kid!” He pulled out a bag of chips and threw them to Frank. “Not a sandwich, but you’re stoned, so it doesn’t matter!”

Frank laughed brightly and opened the bag, leaning back against the wall next to the stereo as he munched on chips and listened to Gerard and Mikey talking.

Gerard had lost track of how long he and Mikey had been debating the current political candidates, but suddenly he realized that he was extraordinarily tired. He glanced at the clock and paled a bit. “One-thirty? Holy shit!” He blinked and laughed softly before turning to look at Frank. His heart melted when he saw the boy completely passed out against the stereo, the bag of chips spilled over his lap and his chest rising and falling slowly. He chuckled and stood up, cautiously scooping Frank up, trying his best not to wake the exhausted boy and he carried him into his bedroom, laying him down under the covers. He stared at him for a moment, gently brushing a piece of hair from his forehead before leaning down and pressing a sweet kiss to his cheek. He walked back out to the front room and gave a lopsided smirk to Mikey.

Mikey just sat back cooly on the couch and stared at Gerard, contemplating what he was going to say before he said it. He sighed and stood up. “Come outside and smoke a cigarette with me before bed.” He pushed his feet into his shoes and walked outside with the man, pulling out two cigarettes and lighting one before handing the other to Gerard.

Gerard took it with a quiet “thanks” and lit it, leaning his shoulders against the façade of the building.

They stood there for a minute in silence before Mikey pushed himself off the wall and stared Gerard down. “What are you doing with that kid, Gerard?”

Gerard’s heart stalled for a moment. Had he been careless? Had Mikey caught him stealing kisses from Frank, or in his stoned state, had he said or done something that would have tipped him off? He swallowed dryly and his mouth opened and closed a few times, his mind trying to catch up and come up with some kind of response.

“Come on, Gerard. It’s obvious. Maybe not to everyone else, but I’m your brother. I’ve known you my whole life, and I have _never_ seen you look at someone the way you look at Frank.” Mikey took a pull off his cigarette and paused for a moment, thinking. “I’m not stupid, Gerard. I know something is going on between you two. I’m not here to judge you, I mean, fuck! Who the hell am I to judge anyone? I just want you to be careful. You’re playing with fire, Gerard.”

Gerard nodded numbly and tried to swallow, but his mouth had entirely dried out in panic. “I-… we are careful. It’s nothing more than kissing for now. I love him, Mikey.” the last part of his words dropped to a soft whisper, whether to keep from being heard by any ears outside their conversation, or because Gerard was petrified of saying the words to anyone other than Frank, it was unclear.

“Well that much is obvious.” Mikey smiled at Gerard and clapped him on the shoulder as he stamped out his cigarette and flicked the filter into the street. He gave Gerard the same lopsided smile that the older man sometimes got and he stretched a little, yawning and turning to walk inside the house with him. He laid down on the sofa and pulled a blanket over himself before looking up at Gerard and smirking. “You have nothing to worry about, I’m not going to tell a soul, you know me. Free love and all that shit.” With that he laid his head down and went to sleep.


	7. Chapter Seven

Frank sighed softly and his eyes slowly slid open. The room around him was a jumble of blurs and distorted shapes and he blinked the sleep out of his eyes before smiling as he realized he was in Gerard’s bedroom. He felt the heat radiating off the man who laid next to him with one arm casually draped over Frank’s hips. He bit his lip and smirked to himself, remembering the evening before, and his new resolve to try and turn on Gerard so much that his staunch “no sex until your birthday” rule crumbled away.

Frank stretched a bit and slowly moved Gerard’s arm, climbing out of bed and moving to the bathroom, brushing his hair and washing his face before he walked back into the bedroom, smirking at the bed. Gerard let out a little grunt in his sleep and stirred and Frank cautiously tiptoed over to the bed, climbing back in and slowly moving his body over Gerard’s, glad that he weighed about as much as a bird and wasn’t yet waking the man up. He slid his hands over Gerard’s chest and straddled his hips as he leaned down and started to kiss at his bare chest and shoulders.

Gerard licked his lips and shifted in his sleep, sighing softly. Frank smirked against his skin, loving that he was affecting Gerard’s dreams and clearly turning them into pleasant ones. He smirked and kissed over his neck, softly biting at his jaw line and flicking the tip of his tongue over the man’s earlobe before whispering softly to him. “Wake up, Gerard…” with that he leaned down and started to trail kisses over his neck and shoulders, down his pale chest. He paused for a moment to scrape his teeth over the man’s collarbone, thrilling at the little moan that Gerard let out as his body started to pull itself out of a deep sleep. Frank giggled against his skin before laying soft kisses straight down the center of his chest to his stomach. His hands slid over his sides slowly before scratching lightly, sending pleasurable shivers up Gerard’s spine. Frank kissed even lower, moving to his abdomen and softly dipping his tongue into his naval for a moment before kissing even lower.

It was then that Gerard’s eyes snapped open as he felt Frankie on top of him fully. He looked down and was instantly hard as a rock at the sight of Frank’s mouth… down there… he swallowed hard and squirmed, absolutely on cloud nine with the feelings that Frank was sending through his body, but he had to stop him. He moaned out a protest and squirmed a little, hissing as Frank only continued to worship his body with his mouth and tongue and Gerard let his head fall back for a moment, his hand sliding through his own hair and pulling a bit. He hissed and reached down grabbing Frank’s shoulders and pulling him back while sitting up. His entire body screamed at him in protest for stopping the boy, but it was very clear that Frank was not going to stop on his own and had he gotten much lower on his body they would be crossing very black and white lines into illegal territory. “Frank! Frank… Frankie baby… stop stop stop…” Gerard moaned softly as Frank immediately went to kissing at his neck and shoulders. “Baby… Frankie…” He let out a soft growl as he felt Frank press his hips down tightly against his own. “Frank!”

Frank smirked and sighed dramatically before pulling back and getting off of Gerard. “Fiiine.” He slid off the bed and walked out of the room, swaying his hips a bit just to make sure that Gerard was watching him. Gerard groaned and flopped back against the pillows, rubbing his face rapidly. He had no idea what the hell had gotten into Frank this early in the morning, but his body certainly wasn’t complaining about it. Gerard sighed and remained laying there for a few minutes, trying to will himself to not be as ragingly turned on as he was. He couldn’t help it, the look on Frank’s face had been orgasmic, and having his mouth hovering so close to his crotch was driving him mad, and he couldn’t push the mental image of his face out of his mind. He groaned and stood up, wincing a little at his unusually hard morning predicament, and he moved into the bathroom, pulling off his boxers and jumping into the shower.

It took all of twenty seconds after Gerard got into the shower for his mind and hand to start wandering, and he slowly wrapped his hand around himself. His head spun at the steam that flooded the small bathroom, or maybe it was the mental image that he just couldn’t shake of Frank in front of him on his knees, water beating down on him and running in rivers over his body as he took Gerard into his mouth--

“Ahh! Fuck…” Gerard groaned a little, shaking his head. _Something else, anything else._ Imagining Frank blowing him was not going to make the day any easier to handle. He closed his eyes again and leaned against the wall as his hand quickened its pace. He thought of Frank moaning desperately as Gerard thrust into him. The imagery was so real, he could see his fingers digging into the skin on Frank’s hips, pulling him into him over and over again thrusting deeper into the boy while Frank moaned and begged for more, his back twisting and arching-- “FUCK!” Gerard gasped and clamped his eyes shut, trying to push the image out of his head as fast as he could. _DUCKS. BASEBALL. MONOPOLY. GETTING A SHOT. Ducks, Gerard. Focus, go with Ducks… anything but Frank on his knees for you. Anything but his beautiful, pouty mouth wrapping around your--_ It was no good, his stomach tightened and flipped and a second later he was moaning softly as he came over his hand.

Frank leaned his shoulder against the other side of the bathroom door, smirking. He licked his lips and finished himself off at the same time that Gerard did, whimpering quietly, letting Gerard’s panicked moans and panting wash over his ears. It had been almost too easy to turn the poor man on, but Gerard in the end had _not_ thrown Frankie down and taken him the way the boy so desperately wanted. Frank fixed his jeans and used a tissue to clean himself up. _I’ll just have to try harder, that’s all._

Frank was in the kitchen, whipping up something for breakfast when Gerard emerged from his bedroom fully dressed. A little _too_ dressed, in fact. Frank smirked as he saw the man pull a sweater over his long sleeved shirt, despite the gorgeous mid-80 degree day that was forming outside. He arched his eyebrow steeply at Gerard. “Cold?”

Gerard stared straight at Frank, his face flatlined before he cocked his eyebrow right back at Frank, almost challenging him. “Frigid.”

Frank snorted a little and continued to mix the pancake batter. He brought it over to the heated up skillet and poured it carefully, cooking the two of them pancakes and chopping up some fruit for breakfast. Gerard sat at the table, sipping his mug of coffee and staring at the newspaper. A moment later Frank moved over to him and sat a plate down in front of him, his chest pressing against Gerard’s back as he leaned over him. He smirked and kissed his cheek, his lips grazing his ear sensually. “Eat up… you’ll need your strength.”

Gerard nearly choked on his coffee and he managed to swallow it down, wincing a bit before nodded. “Thanks.”

Frank let out a sexy little giggle and kissed the curve of his neck gently, sending shivers through Gerard, before sitting across from him and digging into his pancakes. “What do you wanna do today?”

Gerard cleared his throat softly and shook his head. “I don’t know. What do you want to do?”

 _YOU, I would like to do you today._ Frank smirked a little. “There are _lots_ of things I want to do.” He bit his lip a little, glancing up at Gerard through his eyelashes. The insinuation was not lost on Gerard, and the man swallowed hard, downing the rest of his coffee in one large gulp. “But first things first, I think you are looking awfully tense today.” Frank smirked and stood up, grabbing Gerard’s hand, immediately pulling him into the bedroom with sweet giggles. He smirked and carefully put his hands on Gerard’s chest, pushing him back until he was laying on his back on the bed. He moved and knelt next to him. “Turn over!” He flashed a bright grin to the man, and before Gerard had any sense about him, he had done as told. Frank moved quickly, knowing that at any second Gerard would realize the compromising position he would be in and stop it. He had to divert the blood flow from his brain before he did. Frank moved and straddled Gerard’s lower back, his hands moving under his shirt before he snickered and sat back. “Okay, the sweater is ridiculous, it’s like 85 in here.” He giggled and pulled it off of the man quickly, licking his lips as the shirt underneath rose halfway up his back.

Frank slid his hands along Gerard’s shoulder blades and down the center of his back, slowly massaging the man’s tense muscles. He felt Gerard start to melt under his touch and he smirked, knowing that he had him right where he wanted him. After a few minutes of massaging his back and shoulders he slid his hands up and slowly dragged his fingernails down Gerard’s sides, causing the man to let out a soft moan of pleasure. Frank giggled seductively and leaned up over him, resting his chest against his back and continuing to scratch over Gerard’s pale skin. He kissed at the back of his neck and shoulders slowly before leaning up and letting out a soft moan into his ear. “I want you so bad, baby…” Before Gerard could respond he leaned down and bit gently at his neck.

Gerard closed his eyes tightly and moaned. He fucking loved everything Frank was doing to him. He loved feeling Frank’s soft hands on his skin and the slight sting as he scratched him, he was losing his mind as Frank moaned and sighed in his ear and when Frank bit down on his neck he lost all sense of himself. He groaned in protest when Frank pulled back but it was short lived as Frank pulled on his shoulder, turning him over so he was straddling his crotch and his hands were running over his chest.

Frank licked his lips, sitting up straight. He kept solid eye contact with Gerard, biting his lip as he ran a hand down his own chest slowly. He toyed with the hem of his shirt for a moment before slowly and teasingly pulling it up over his stomach and chest, pulling it over his head and tossing it to the side.

“Frankie…” Gerard let out a soft groan, his eyes moving over every single inch of Frank’s newly exposed skin. He reached up and trailed his fingers over the boy’s stomach. “Fuck, Frankie…” He closed his eyes and let his head fall back as Frank slowly ground his hips down against Gerard. “Baby… baby wait.” Frank shook his head and smirked a little, reaching down and taking Gerard’s hands in his, guiding them to his own chest and slowly down his abdomen to his belt buckle. Gerard hesitated for a moment before pulling his hands back like the metal had burned him. “Frank!” Gerard shook his head, trying to clear his mind from all the sexual thoughts he was having of the young man and he closed his eyes tightly. “Frankie, stop this.”

“Stop what, Gee?” Frank spoke with such innocence that it flipped Gerard’s insides upside down. “Don’t you _want_ to touch me?”

Gerard let out a soft growl and he squirmed a little. “Of course I do, Frank. You have no god damn idea how bad I want to touch you--” He moaned deeply as Frank reached down, sliding his hand over the crotch of Gerard’s jeans. He was lost in the heat of the moment as Frank slowly stroked him through his pants, but a second wind of morality caught him and he reached down, snatching Frank’s hand and pulling it away. “But we made a deal, Frank.”

“Fuck the deal, Gerard!” Frank whined, pulling his hand out of Gerard’s. “I want you!” He leaned down and kissed him heatedly, moaning against his lips. “I _need_ you!” He ground his hips down against Gerard’s and his hands moved down fluidly, unbuttoning and unzipping Gerard’s jeans slowly.

Gerard jerked his head to the side and sighed sharply, grabbing Frank’s hands again. “ _No_ , Frank.”

Frank let out an indignant sound and moved off of him, his eyes stinging with tears at the rejection. He moved and sat on the edge of the bed, his back to Gerard. “It’s not fair!”

Gerard sighed and waited a moment before he sat up and shifted, sitting behind Frank. He leaned down and kissed his shoulder lightly, wrapping his arms around his waist in a sweet hug. “I know, baby, and I’m sorry, but it’s how it has to be.” He sat there with Frank for a moment, sighing when the man just sulked. “I love you, and I promise you that it’ll be worth the wait, Frankie…”

“I don’t _want_ to wait!”

“I don’t want to go to _prison_!”

Frank scoffed softly, mumbling. “At least you’d get laid in prison.”

Gerard sighed and leaned his chin on Frank’s shoulder. “I don’t want to get _laid_ , Frank. I want to make love to you, and _only_ you, and we will… but not yet. I know this his hard, but it’s only going to make us stronger, and make it that much more amazing later on.”

Frank frowned and nodded a little. “You’re right. I love you.”

Gerard chuckled and turned his head, sweetly kissing Frank. “I love you too, Frankie. Now, put your shirt back on, because it’s driving me mad, and when we get out of this bed, I need you to stop being such a brat, because my delicate sensibilities just can’t take any more of it or I will simply explode, darling.” He smirked and gave Frank another kiss before climbing out of the bed.

Frank rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh, grabbing his shirt and tugging it back over his head. “Fine.”


	8. Chapter Eight

Another two months passed easily. Gerard and Frank found themselves settling into a routine. Frank would occasionally try and push the boundaries of their deal, and each time Gerard would have to talk him down and re-assert his position of “no sex until 18”. He knew it was getting frustrating for Frank, and he couldn’t blame him. He was a teenaged boy with a raging libido and pent up sexual frustration, but he was firm in his resolve. During one particularly frustrating afternoon Frank had gone so far as to have written down bullet points about why blowjobs shouldn’t count as sex, and should therefore be free territory, which had made Gerard laugh (but had intensely turned him on none-the-less).

The hash marks in Frank’s closet were starting to add up, and as his birthday drew nearer things were getting worse at home. School had finished for the summer and Frank had convinced his father to let him get a summer job. He worked during the mornings at a bookstore, impressing his boss and customers with his knowledge of classic literature, and in afternoons he would find himself leaning against the counter at the shop where Gerard worked, lazily sipping iced tea and flipping through comics. At 4:00 every day he returned home, sighing as he said goodbye to Gerard for the evening. Summers were awful with his Father. The sweltering heat and humidity of New Jersey made the man cranky and caused his already short temper to flare up out of nowhere. Frank walked on tiptoes around the apartment, trying to avoid him whenever possible. He put every single cent he earned at his job into the bank account that Gerard had helped him open, saving everything for when they would make their triumphant exit, flipping the entire state off as they drove across the state line.

It was a Tuesday afternoon, and Frank flipped the last page of the Preacher comic he had been reading and he carefully put it back on the shelf, sighing. He looked at his watch and frowned, seeing that he had just enough time to book it back home. Gerard had an appointment after work, so Frank had said he would be fine walking home. Gerard had protested, but Frank waved it off, it wasn‘t very far anyway. “I gotta go, Gee.”

Gerard frowned and nodded. “All right. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

Frank nodded and gave him a wave and a wink as he shouldered his bag and walked out of the store. He jammed his hands in his pockets as he reached his driveway and frowned, seeing a car in the driveway. He and is father didn’t have a car. He walked up the steps and cautiously opened the door, walking in. He blinked as he saw his father and three men he didn’t recognize sitting around a card table playing poker. “Hey.” He mumbled softly as he made his way through the room and to his bedroom.

Frank sat down on his bed and leaned his back against the wall, pulling out the copy of Lord of the Flies that Mr. Kimball had given him to read over the summer to help jumpstart him on the fast track to graduating halfway through his Senior year. He became utterly absorbed in the book, fascinated by the imagery, the sweeping metaphors and flowing language, and he was unaware of just how long he had been reading before a heated conversation in the other room pulled his attention away from the words on the page.

“Oh come on Frank. I’ll give you a hundred bucks!”

Frank heard the chortle of his father, Frank Sr., scoffing a bit. “Worth more than that, Phil.”

Another voice chimed into the conversation. “I’ll give you a hundred too!”

Then a third. “We’ll each give you a hundred, can’t possibly be worth more than that!”

There was a pause in the conversation and Frank blinked a little, wondering what the hell the three men were trying to buy from his father. There was a general clatter and shuffling, muttering and unintelligible mumbles before suddenly Frank’s door flew wide open and his father walked in and without a word grabbed a fistful of Frank’s hair, yanking him to his feet and dragging him through the apartment to the front room. He threw the boy down onto the ground in front of the three men and smirked viciously. “You get one hour.”

Frank yelped a little as the matted carped burned his arm where he was thrown down. He scrambled to his feet and looked around quickly, still not exactly sure what the hell was going on. He wasn’t completely sure until his father stuffed three hundred dollars into his wallet and walked out of the room. Suddenly there were hands all over him, and three disgusting men were fondling him and croaking out vile commands for him to get on his knees. Frank protested and thrashed, trying to escape from the men, but they were strong, and there were three of them. Before he knew it, Frank was forced down to the ground on his knees.

“You first, Phil.” one of the other men leered and the man that had brought him to his knees smirked, grabbing Frank’s chin roughly with one hand, his other hand undoing his belt and jeans, pulling his flaccid penis out.

“Don’t make me have to fucking hurt you, you little shit.” He snarled at Frank and cracked his hand across the boy’s face, causing Frank to crack. Tears flew down his face and he prayed for someone, _anyone_ to come flying through the door and rescue him. He shook his head rapidly and tried to back away, but another man grabbed his head and held him still, fingers digging into the joint on his jaw until it hurt so much that Frank was forced to open his mouth wide to relieve the pain.

The assault went on for days, it seemed. The seconds and minutes dragged by as the three men forced themselves into Frank’s mouth, sloppily thrusting in and out, choking him and causing him to wretch and dry-heave. When they had had their fill of that they had torn his clothes off and there had been six hands on him, groping and pulling at him, he had screamed in agony as they had laughed and forced foreign objects into him, moaning and panting as they watched the boy’s last shreds of dignity fly out the window. They had dragged Frank back into his bedroom and thrown him on the bed, each one of them taking a turn to violate the teenaged boy and Frank had screamed and begged them not to climax inside of him, but they had laughed at his pleas and done it anyhow. 

Frank sobbed as the men finished with him and left him laying naked and broken on his mattress. He couldn’t even bring himself to clean himself up or pull clothes on. He just laid there, his skin freezing cold as his entire body wracked with sobs. He didn’t even hear it when the men left the apartment, slamming car doors and revving the engine as they drove way. He didn’t hear it when his father pushed open his bedroom door and walked over to him. He was unaware of everything until he felt his father’s hand on his cheek, carefully wiping tears off of his face. It was a gentle loving touch, unlike one he had ever been given by another person except for Gerard.

“I know that hurt you, Frank.” The man sighed softly and tucked a piece of hair behind Frank’s ear gently. Frank could smell the alcohol on the man’s sour breath, but he just laid there, emotionless. “But I need you to be a good boy for me now.” He slid his hand over Frank’s cheek again, and Frank couldn’t help the way he leaned into the touch, just happy to be touched gently instead of the rough forceful hands he had been enduring. “It’ll be okay. You’re worth so much more than I thought, Frank.” The man sounded hopeful and caring, but his words defied his gentle nature. “We’ll be okay now, son. As long as you’re a good boy.” With that he stood up again and walked out of the bedroom, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Frank broke down in tears again, his fingers clutching to the fabric of the mattress, desperately trying to hold onto his last shreds of sanity. As if some divine sign from the heavens, the spring that dug into his side night after night finally burst through the fabric, sharply stabbing at Frank’s skin, almost prodding him to get up. Frank let out a whimper and quickly stood up, rubbing the small red mark. He blinked and quickly pulled on clothes as he heard his father retreat to his own room and shut the door, falling into bed. 

Frank moved to the window and opened it widely, looking out and surveying the scene, there was no one around, no one to see him making his daring escape. He slowly moved his body through the window and made the short jump to the ground, wincing at the shock of the ground meeting his feet. He shook it off and started to run as fast as he could. His feet pounded on the pavement in a rhythmic cadence, his heart attempted to beat a hole in his chest and his lungs felt like they would explode, but he didn’t stop running. He sprinted the two and a half miles to Gerard’s place, running up the stairs and beating his fist into the door desperately, tears running down his face.

Frank knocked again and again before frustratingly kicking the door and sinking his shoulders down the door until he was curled up in a ball on Gerard’s doorstep. The man clearly wasn’t home yet from his appointment, and Frank sat there, knees at his chest, his forehead resting on his knees and his arms draped over the back of his neck, sobbing. When finally he had no more tears left to cry, he just sat there pathetically, curled up and waiting for Gerard to come home.

After an hour and a half of waiting Frank heard Gerard’s car pull into the driveway, but he couldn’t move. He was just stuck there, the weight of the universe pinning him to that spot. He could hear Gerard turn off the car and slam the door, running over to him, and it was only when Gerard was in front of him, pulling the fragile boy into his arms that Frank allowed himself to look up at him. His face was pale and tear-streaked and it sent chills into Gerard’s heart. Without saying a word he scooped Frank up into his arms and carried him into the apartment. Frank curled into Gerard’s warm chest, his skin freezing cold against the heat of Gerard’s body and he broke down again, sobbing helplessly. 

Gerard’s throat was tight as he held the shaking boy in his lap, just wrapping his strong arms around Frank’s small body, wanting to make him feel as safe as possible. His hand rubbed up and down his back and from time to time he would kiss Frank’s forehead or cheek and whisper something soft and comforting to him. It was a half hour later when Frank finally stopped sobbing and shaking and weakly picked his head up to look at Gerard again. “I have to tell you something, Gee.”

“You can tell me anything, Frankie. You know that baby.” Gerard brushed Frank’s hair out of his face and leaned down, giving him a gentle kiss.

And so it came pouring out of Frank’s mouth in a jumbled mess of thoughts and emotions. Frank told Gerard everything. He told him how his father would rape him, how on some nights, instead of beating him he would sneak into his bedroom and molest him. He told Gerard about the three men who had paid his father for the privilege to assault him, and most of all he told Gerard about the terrifying thing his father had said. 

Gerard was numb through Frank’s entire diatribe. Frank had never told him about being sexually abused before. He thought that Frank was telling him everything, but he had been holding back and keeping the deepest and darkest secret for himself. The man had no feeling in his entire body, it was just numb. He could sense that his breath came in short shallow bursts, but he couldn’t feel the stinging in his oxygen deprived lungs, he could tell that tears flooded down his face but he couldn’t feel them catching on his eyelashes. When Frank finally stopped talking he pulled Frank closer than ever and he buried his face in the top of his head, sobbing and mumbling through the tears.

“You were supposed to tell me everything, Frank! You promised to be honest! I could have stopped all of this months ago!” He sobbed and gripped at Frank’s shoulders. He hated himself for not seeing it on his own, he vowed never to forgive himself for letting Frank bear such a heavy burden all on his own. He loathed himself for not giving in and making love to Frank when he desperately needed it so badly. Frank _needed_ a loving hand to touch him, he needed to feel someone that loved him instead of the horrendous things that his father did to him. His entire body was wracked with such grief that he couldn’t help that he shook Frank’s shoulders a bit as he yelled. “WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME, FRANK!?”

Frank gasped sharply and pulled away from Gerard, standing up and trembling. Gerard had never yelled at him like that, he had never been rough with him… tears flicked down his face as he turned and ran out the door, panicked.

Gerard cursed and stood up, running out after him. “FRANK! Frankie wait, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean that!” Frank didn’t stop or even slow down, he just ran down the street with Gerard hot on his heels, begging the boy to forgive him.

“Frankie! I just want to help you! I want to make it better! _Please_ Frank, stop!”

Frank sobbed as he ran, not sure of where his feet were taking him, just knowing that he had to get away from Gerard. He was scared of what he had just witnessed, not really understanding that the intense grief that Gerard was feeling was what had driven him to yell. He wasn’t sure where the hell he was going until his heart stalled as he realized he had just run the direct route back to his own house.

Gerard caught up with him, a half block behind, panting heavily as he grabbed Frank’s hand. “Baby… Frankie, please… I am so sorry!” He blinked at the look on Frank’s face and he followed his gaze, realizing as well that they were right in front of Frank’s house. Searing anger rose up through his entire body and he grit his teeth so hard he thought they would disintegrate. He clenched his fists, fingernails digging into the palms of his hands so hard that they broke the skin and stung viciously. His eyes narrowed and blackened as he saw the flickering blue TV light and without knowing really what he was going to do, Gerard ripped away from Frank and in two long strides was up the stairs and bursting through the apartment door.

Frank froze for a moment before absorbing what was happening and he panicked, following Gerard quickly. He gasped sharply as he saw Gerard grab his father by the shirt collar and drag him out of the orange chair, hauling back his fist before colliding it viciously into the side of the man’s face.

Gerard was animalistic. He growled and hissed and screamed and yelled as his fist made contact with Frank’s father. He hauled on the man’s shirt and slammed him against the wall of the front room, smirking sadistically as the man’s head made a sick thud as it crashed into the wall. He held the man’s shirt tightly in his fists as he leaned up to him and hissed obscenities. “You sick _fuck_ , I should fucking murder you where you stand you piece of shit!” He brought his knee up into the man’s stomach violently before slamming him back against the wall again. “You want to fucking beat on someone, _try me._ I fucking DARE you to beat on someone your own fucking size you pathetic fuck!”

Frank stood in shock watching Gerard throw his father around. His father was a strong man, he had been a fighter in his earlier years and granted alcoholism and sloth had turned him into a slovenly man, but he was still strong, but Gerard had the fury of hell on his side and he threw the much bigger man away from him like it was nothing. Frank clapped his hand over his mouth, panicking, not sure of what to do in the slightest.

Gerard scowled and watched the man through narrowed slits of eyes and he set his jaw, lunging at him when Frank’s father moved to attack Gerard. They clashed in the middle like two alpha-wolves fighting for dominance, growling and foaming at the mouth, each one desperate to tear life and limb from the other. Finally, to the horror of Frank, his father managed to get the upper hand on Gerard and he watched, letting out a choked scream of terror as Gerard’s body was thrown to the ground and his father delivered a swift kick to his ribcage.

In a flash, Frankie was at Gerard’s side, throwing himself between the man and his father, using all of his might to push the man away from him. Gerard groaned in agony but managed to pull himself to his feet, clutching his ribs with one arm, but fully ready to attack the man again if it meant Frank’s safety. Frank put his hand on Gerard’s chest and kept him back, his eyes narrowing and a brevity that he didn’t know he had inside of him bursting forth.

“STOP IT!” Frank screamed and stood between the two men. He looked between them, the both of them panting and bruised, snarling at each other, just waiting to make the next move.

“Who the FUCK is this, Frank!?” His father growled, his eyes never leaving Gerard’s. “This your faggot boyfriend?! Looks a little _old_ for you, Frank…” The man got a sick smirk on his face. “Don’t you get enough fucking while you’re here, son?”

Gerard let out a scream and lunged at his father but Frank caught him by the waist and used all of his strength to pull the man back. “GERARD, STOP!” He clenched his teeth and gave Gerard a warning glare.

“Gerard, eh?” Frank’s father smirked. “Well _Gerard_ , you might want to stay away from my fucking son, or we’ll see what the hell the police have to say about your little relationship.”

Frank stared at the man in shock before letting out a sharp laugh, moving over to the man and calmly smirking. “The _police_!? You really want to get the police involved in this, Dad? Because we can DEFINITELY call the police, and I’ll tell them all about the things you and your sick fuck friends do to me, and they’ll lock you up so fucking fast you won’t know what hit you!” Frank laughed again in his father’s face. “They would find _nothing_ on Gerard, because we haven’t done anything illegal.” He felt a chill hit his entire body all at once as he suddenly realized why exactly Gerard had been so damn adamant about waiting to have any further sexual contact outside of kissing until he was eighteen. He let out another laugh of disbelief and turned to look at Gerard, a smile on his face as he spoke breathlessly. “I’ve ever even seen him naked…”

Gerard’s face softened and he nodded at Frank, realizing that the young boy finally understood why the last many months had to be so unbearably difficult. A sense of pride flowed through him as he watched Frank standing up to his father at last, and he stood there, ready to jump to his defense at any second, but staying back and letting Frank fight this battle that had been so long in coming.

Frank turned back to his father. “So if you _really_ want to call the police, let’s do it! They’ll take me and they’ll put me with some fucking foster family, but I’ll be eighteen this year, and then there will be absolutely nothing to stop me and Gerard. Let’s make it your call, shall we?”

Frank Sr. stood there, his mouth opening and closing like a fish floundering for air as he struggled for something to say. He wasn’t used to having anyone stand up to him, let alone his meek son. His face was red with rage as his eyes flicked between the two men in front of him.

Gerard finally spoke up and he reached out, placing a gentle hand on Frank’s shoulder. “Get your things, Frankie. You’re coming to stay with me for a while.”

Frank’s heart nearly exploded out of his chest and he nodded, running to his bedroom to collect his school books and the very few precious belongings that he had. Gerard stood right in his spot, staring down his father, almost daring him to attempt to make a move. When Frank returned to his side, Gerard walked over to the stunned man and smirked, leaning over and hissing in his ear quietly so only the two of them could hear. After he stood up and led Frankie out of the apartment, the man’s words rang in Frank Sr.’s mind, hollowing out his stomach and putting the fear of God in him.

“If you _ever_ touch this boy again, I swear on my life that it will be the very last fucking thing that you _ever_ do. I will find you, and I _will_ kill you to protect him.”


	9. Chapter Nine

And so Frank came to live with Gerard. The first night Frank spent in Gerard’s bed, trembling as nightmares wracked his body. Gerard laid awake the entire night, simply holding Frank in his arms and when the boy’s frightened whimpering got too much he would lean down and softly coo in his ear until he felt Frank calm down. School was starting again in a week, and Frank had decided to keep his job to continue saving for when he and Gerard ran away together, shifting his hours around so he could work after school until evening time. Their routine had changed drastically, but they were starting to fall into it by the time Frank started his first day of his Senior year.

The boys sat at the kitchen table, Gerard drinking coffee and eating toast, and Frank packing his school bag for the day between mouthfuls of cereal. “Frankie…” Gerard sighed softly, praying that Frank wasn’t about to take what he was going to say the wrong way. “I have a bed being delivered for you this afternoon. It’s going in the second room. I’ll clear it all out for you after work today.”

Frank stared at Gerard dumbly, a mouthful of cereal unchewed in his mouth. He swallowed hard, continuing to stare. “Why?”

Gerard sighed and rubbed his face a little. “You need your own space, Frankie.”

Frank shook his head, knitting his eyebrows. “No I don’t!”

“Yes, Frank… you do. Just during school days, okay? On weekdays we’ll sleep in separate rooms, and on the weekends you can sleep in my bed with me. It’s just for now, Frankie. Your birthday is coming fast, baby.”

Frank frowned and stabbed his spoon into his bowl a few times, having lost his appetite. “Yeh. Okay.” He had learned not to question Gerard about his decisions regarding their boundary lines. Ever since he had realized that it was Gerard’s careful restraint that had saved both of them during the fallout with his father he had stopped pressing Gerard to go further, and stopped complaining about all the rules.

Gerard smiled and finished his coffee, standing up and kissing the top of Frank’s head before dropping his mug in the sink. “Now finish eating and I’ll drop you off at school on my way to work.”

Frank jammed the last few bites in his mouth at once and swallowed it before dumping the rest of the milk in the sink and rinsing out the bowl, grabbing his bag and following Gerard outside. He was actually excited about the prospect of his Senior year. All the Senior boys that had beat him up last year had all graduated, and while there were still one or two left who would undoubtedly taunt him in the hallways, he didn’t care. There was no more bullshit classes like drama, psych or art to get through, he had doubled up his English classes taking Senior _and_ Advanced Placement English with Mr. Kimball, doubled up on a Chemistry lab, had an Advanced Placement American History class and one Advanced Placement Calculus class, all which were specifically designed to let Frank finish the course and earn his Diploma exactly one week and three days before his eighteenth birthday.

As he walked through the halls to his first English class of the day he couldn’t help the grin that plastered itself on his face, seeing Mr. Kimball standing outside the classroom, welcoming students to his class.

“Hello Frank, welcome back!” The man beamed at the boy as the bell rang and he ushered Frank into the classroom, closing the door behind them. Frank slid into the front center seat and dug out his notebook and a pen, settling into his seat as Mr. Kimball tried to get the class’ attention.

The teacher was excited to see Frank’s newfound enthusiasm take over. During the first week of class he was active in discussions and didn’t hesitate to make his opinions known. The other students muttered and called him a teacher’s pet, but Frank didn’t care. During lunch block, Mr. Kimball and Frank resumed their mealtime discussions, getting on about subjects that pressed even the older man’s intellectual barricades.

After school Frank would walk the three blocks to the bookstore, throw on his work apron and stand behind the cash register with his nose in whatever book he happened to pull off the shelf on his way in, occasionally stopping to ring a customer out or chat with someone about what book they should read next. Around 6:00 every day Gerard would stop in on his way home and bring Frankie a cup of coffee or something to eat and they would chat while Frank ate and then Gerard would head home and Frank would pull out his schoolwork and work on it during the dead hours of the evening. At 9:00 sharp every evening, Frank would pack up his school books and tidy up the store, putting the money for the day in the safe and lock up the store, walking the several blocks to the apartment. Gerard had made him a key for the front door, and he would let himself in and drop his things by the door, exhaustedly flopping down on the couch with Gerard to talk about their days or sit silently with his head in Gerard’s lap, the man’s fingers sliding through his hair as they listened to music. At ten, Gerard and Frank would get ready for bed and give each other a prolonged goodnight kiss in the hallway before sequestering themselves in their respective bedrooms for the night. 

The system worked out well for them, and it was a Tuesday of the second week of school that Frank’s Advanced Placement English class was interrupted by a knock on the door and Principal Davies walked into the classroom. The class fell silent and everyone straightened up, pretending to have been paying attention. Principal Davies was a man who was average in every single way. He was of average height, of average build, he had medium brown hair and flat brown eyes. He gave Mr. Kimball a nod and his eyes scanned the room. “I apologize for the interruption, Mr. Kimball, may I please borrow Mr. Iero?”

Frank blinked and picked up his books and his bag, casting a confused look to Mr. Kimball as he walked out with Principal Davies, hearing the whispering and snickering of his classmates as the door shut behind him. “Am I in trouble?” Frank blinked, he hadn’t done _anything_ to warrant a trip to the principals office!

“Not at all, Mr. Iero. There is just someone here who needs to speak with you.” The man led Frank through the halls to his office and Frank’s entire body turned to ice as his eyes landed on the uniformed police officer who stood there waiting for him. A timid looking woman in a boring gray skirt-suit sat in the corner with a bulky file-folder.

“What’s going on?” Frank took a step backwards toward the door but Mr. Davies put a firm hand on his shoulder and guided the boy to a chair. Frank sat down, his knuckles white as he clenched the strap on his bag.

“Mr. Iero…” Mr. Davies started off before sighing and hesitating. “Some distressing information as come out today, and I’m afraid it’s rather serious.”

Frank gulped a little and sat rigidly, petrified.

“Mr. Iero… Frank…” the police officer started before pulling a chair up next to the boy. The officer had a kind face and put Frank a little more at ease, but not completely. “Your father has been arrested. He was involved in an assault and battery case this morning at a bar. Charges were pressed and your father is facing jail time for a while.” The man paused while Frank just stared at him stupidly, not sure what to say. “Frank we were unable to get in touch with your mother to come and take care of you in your father’s absence, so we asked your dad if there was another family member who could take care of you, and he told us about a man named Gerard, and told us that you ran away and are living with him and are…” The officer blushed and cleared his throat awkwardly. “…intimate… with.”

Frank’s heart froze in his chest and he jumped up from his chair. “He’s a liar!”

The officer stood up as well and put his hand up to stop Frank before taking his arm and sitting him back down. “Frank, we know that you’ve been living with Mr. Way. We know that you ran away from home, and it’s not appropriate for a young man like yourself to be living with and being intimate with someone so much older than you. It’s against the law, Frank.”

“But we haven’t DONE anything!” Frank balked, yelling at the officer, obviously distraught. “I sleep in my own bed and the only reason I’m living with him is because my _father_ is a sexually abusive fuck!” 

“FRANK!” The principal barked at Frank, but Frank didn’t care, he was petrified of what they were doing. Were they arresting Gerard? His world was crumbling in front of him and Mr. Davies was concerned about cursing.

The officer stiffened and took ahold of Frank’s arm gently. “Mr. Iero… those are some very strong allegations-”

“They aren’t _allegations_ they’re god damned _fact_! What have you done with Gerard? Where is he? I want to see Gerard!”

The officer shook his head, frowning. “We can’t allow that, Frank. Mr. Way is in some serious trouble right now.”

“But he hasn’t DONE anything!” Frank kicked the chair he had been sitting in, tears pouring down his face.

“If he hasn’t done anything, then he will be acquitted of all charges, Frank. And you can give an official statement tonight at the police station as to the allegations against your father, but for right now, our main concern is your safety.” When Frank started off on another tangent with loads of cursing he rubbed his face and raised his voice a bit. “Mister Iero! This woman is Ms. Kennedy. She is a social worker for the state, and she has found a place for you to live while this matter gets settled.”

Frank lashed out again. They weren’t _listening_ to him. He was telling them flat out that Gerard hadn’t done a thing, but they simply weren’t _listening_. He heard the adults talking but he just sobbed and stubbornly stood there, teeth clenched and his heart breaking. When Ms. Kennedy carefully took him by the elbow and guided him out of the school into a waiting car Frank felt himself growing colder and colder, absolutely positive that he was dying from the inside out.

“We are going to go and get your belongings from Gerard’s home, Frank.” Ms. Kennedy spoke softly to him, trying to use her best social-worker voice to comfort the boy, but he didn’t respond, just stared out the window, tears rolling down his face.

They pulled up at Gerard’s apartment and Frank started crying harder as he saw two police cars with lights ablaze parked in front of it. Frank leapt out of the car and took off running for the building, praying to some merciful God that Gerard was still there. He looked around wildly for the man, sobbing. “Gerard?! GEE?!” When there was no answer and only the startled looks of two other officers who were searching Gerard’s home and documenting everything. Frank sank down onto the couch and held his head, crying. His fingers twisted in his hair and he pulled a bit, desperately trying to undo time and make it better again. He rocked back and forth a bit psychotically, jerking away from Ms. Kennedy’s gentle hand that laid on his shoulder. 

The woman allowed Frank to sit there and cry for ten minutes before she frowned and stood up, smoothing down her gray suit. “Frank, I’m sorry but we have to go. Please collect your things.” She handed Frank a large duffle bag.

Frank sniffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve before he moved into his bedroom, his heart shattering as he picked up his clothing and books and put it all in the bag. With shoulders slumped he hoisted the bag up and followed Ms. Kennedy out of the apartment and into the car again. Frank pulled his knees up and hugged his shins as the woman drove, stubbornly wiping tears off of his cheeks. The woman tried to talk to Frank the entire time, but he ignored her. He heard her babbling about the family she had found for him, and where they lived, but Frank couldn’t care less, he was just thinking about what the officer had said. He would give his statement, and then they would have to listen to him, and Gerard _had_ done nothing wrong, so he would be acquitted and in 5 months on his eighteenth birthday, Frank would run to him and they would get the hell out of there forever, together.

The car pulled up at a gray emotionless government building and Frank dragged his feet as he followed behind Ms. Kennedy. His eyes stared at the ground the entire time and when the woman stopped and put a kind hand on Frank’s arm he sniffled a little and wiped at his eyes with his sleeve. “I know this is really hard and scary, Frank. But Mr. and Mrs. Bryant are wonderful people, and they have a beautiful home in New York City. They’re very excited for you to come and live with them for the time being.”

Frank sniffled and nodded, he knew that none of this was any of their faults, but he couldn’t help but blame them for dragging him away from Gerard. He hated the Bryant’s and he hadn’t even met them yet. Suddenly a thought occurred to him and he paled a little, looking up sharply at the woman. “What about school? What about my job?”

“They’ve gotten you transferred into a new school. One of Manhattan’s best!” The woman smiled widely, as if the news would be what Frank wanted to hear. “And if you want to work, I’m sure you’ll be able to find a new job in the city, there are so many places you can apply to!”

Frank frowned deeply and took a deep breath, deciding to try the rational approach with the woman, seeing as the bratty and pissed off teenager hadn’t worked a bit. “Ms. Kennedy, please! I have a deal worked out with my professors, to help me graduate early this year! I _need_ to graduate early! I- I have a travel scholarship that I want to use before I start college!” He lied about the scholarship, feeling bad about lying, but it was far better than telling her that he needed to graduate early so he could run away with Gerard. “A new job I can handle, but I _have_ to graduate in the spring!”

Ms. Kennedy looked a little shocked at Frank’s changed of attitude and she thought hard for a moment before giving him a kind smile. “Frank, let’s make a deal, okay? You give Mr. and Mrs. Bryant a chance for one week, and you really try to make it work there, and I promise you that I will talk to the headmistress at your new school and we will figure out how to get you back on the fast-track to graduating in the spring, okay?”

Frank seemed to soften at the offer. At this point there really was nothing that anyone could do except for play by the rules until Gerard was acquitted of charges, the last thing that Frank wanted to do was to make it worse for him. He gave Ms. Kennedy a small smile and he nodded. “Thank you.”

The woman smiled and put her hand on Frank’s back walking with him into a small conference room. A youngish looking woman and slightly older but not by much man sat at the table, looking over file folders that had Frank’s name on them. They both jumped a bit and stood up as Ms. Kennedy led the boy into the room. “Frank this is Sarah and James Bryant.” She smiled at the couple. “This is Frank Iero. I’ll leave you alone to talk for a while. Can I get anyone anything to drink or eat?”

The three of them all shook their heads and Ms. Kennedy left the room. Frank stood there clutching his bag awkwardly and shifting from foot to foot. Finally it was James who made the first move and he walked over to Frank with a kind smile and extended his hand to him. “It’s nice to meet you, Frank.”

Frank blinked at the man before cautiously reaching out and shaking his hand. “You too, Mr. Bryant. Thanks for letting me stay with you.”

James smiled and shook his head. “Please, call us James and Sarah.” He motioned to a chair and let Frank sit down before he moved to his wife’s side and sat down next to her, taking her small hand in his own. “Tell us about yourself, Frank. What do you like to do?”

Frank shrugged a little and picked at his nails, nervously. “I dunno. I like reading.”

Sarah’s face lit up and she spoke up, her soft feminine voice was comforting to Frank. “Do you? That’s wonderful. I’m a literature professor at NYU!”

Frank looked up from his hands to make eye contact with the woman, an excitement behind his look over the possibility of getting to talk to someone who was also interested in literature. “That’s rad.”

Sarah blushed and smiled and it was then that Frank realized what an attractive couple they were. James was tall and rugged and looked like your typical all-American dad with short cropped brown hair and a casual suit and a thick gold wedding band around his ring finger of his left hand. He was strong looking, muscular and had a bit of stubble creating a five-o’clock shadow on his angular jaw line. Sarah was beautiful, of average height, but slender with lightly tanned skin and long dark curly hair which was pulled back into a ponytail that cascaded in curls over her shoulder. She had warm kind eyes but Frank could see the concern of a mother behind them, and he could almost _feel_ her heart reaching out to him, clearly having read about his situation in the folders. He was instantly comfortable around Sarah, but was still slightly intimidated and nervous about James. His track record with strong positive male role models in his life hadn’t been great thus far.

The trio sat in the room and talked for a half an hour, before Ms. Kennedy came back in and informed Frank that it was time to go to the police station to give his statements and reports to the officers, and that she would drive Frank to the Bryant’s home in Manhattan when they were finished . Frank swallowed hard, looking terrified and he bit his lip sharply, tears pricking behind his eyelids. He jumped a little as Sarah reached out and laid her soft hands over his trembling ones.

“Would you like for James or I to come with you, Frank? You must be so frightened.” She frowned and carefully rubbed the back of his hand.

Frank blinked a little and a few tears shot down his cheeks. He wasn’t used to having a mother figure, someone to be tender and caring with him, and it felt nice to feel her concern for him. He blushed deeply and lowered his eyes, nodding a little.

Sarah smiled and nodded, glancing over to James and making plans for him to run about and pick up a few things for Frank around town and to take his things home to their house and get him all set up in a bedroom, and she would accompany Frank to the police station and sit with him while he gave his statements. Frank blushed, thankful that it was Sarah who was coming with him.

An hour later Frank found himself sitting in a chilly blank white room, fidgeting nervously as they waited for the officer to come in. Sarah sat next to Frank, holding his hand gently and trying to keep his mind off of everything by asking him questions about his favorite books. Frank jumped a mile when the door opened and a female officer walked in with a stack of papers. He gulped and gave Sarah’s hand a little squeeze, just happy to have someone there with him.

“Mr. Iero, thank you for coming in.” The officer smiled at Frank and sat down across from them. “A few things before we get started… that camera right there is on and is recording this, just in case we need to review this later on. We need for you to be as honest and as detailed as you can be in your recounting of events. I know it’s really hard to think about all of this, but we really need to be as thorough as we can be, all right?”

Frank nodded a little, swallowing, his mouth feeling like he had eaten a handful of cotton balls. “C- can I have some water, please?” He blushed brightly, not knowing if he was allowed to ask or not, but he could barely swallow, let alone talk about anything.

The officer smiled and nodded and moved to a small fridge in the corner of the room that had bottles of water it in. She brought one for Frank and Sarah both, smiling at Frank. “Another think, Frank, you made some very pointed allegations towards your father in school earlier today. Is that something you want to put on record?”

Frank thought very hard about it for a moment. His father was already _in_ jail, and Frank was already being put in foster care as it was, which had been the only reason he hadn’t gone to the police in the first place. Now that the situation had spiraled out of Frank’s control, he was ready to make his father pay for the atrocities he had committed. He nodded a little and swallowed hard. “Yes Ma’am.”


	10. Chapter Ten

Frank took a long sip of his water and let out a shaky breath. Sarah sat quietly beside him, just holding his hand and being there if he needed extra support or comfort. The officer had asked Frank to start with his statement about his father, and Frank had nodded, starting at the very beginning. He told them about the very vague memory he had of his mother leaving, and how things had just gone downhill from there. He talked about the downfall of his father’s fighting career, which had sent the man spiraling into depression and substance abuse. He re-counted all of the times he could remember getting off the school bus in middle school and seeing his father passed out on the living room floor. He had paused to collect himself as he forced himself to talk about the first time his father had touched him. He had been twelve years old, and his father had drunkenly stumbled into his room and laid down in his bed with him. He had held Frank and forced kisses, with his hands wandering down to slip into his pants. Halfway through retelling the story Frank had broken down into tears and put his head in his arms on the table as both of the women in the room did their best to stay strong and keep their own tears back. 

Sarah rubbed Frank’s back softly, blinking rapidly to keep the tears that clung to her eyelashes from falling down her cheeks. She felt so awful for the boy, to have lived with such hurt and abuse his entire life. She felt Frank’s entire body trembling and shaking as she rubbed his back and she wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around the boy and hug him until it all went away, but Frank didn’t seem to be at that level of comfort with her just yet. As the boy’s crying slowly turned to sniffles she reached into her purse and pulled out a small packet of tissues, gently wiping Frank’s tears off his face and handing him the packet.

Frank took another deep breath and continued his story, telling the officer everything he could think of up to and including what had happened the day he had run away. He sat there and answered all of the questions the woman could think of to ask him. He had signed papers and read disclosures, and Sarah as his new legal guardian had signed wavers and disclosures as well. It had taken about five hours for Frank to finish giving his statement on his father, and he rubbed his face, sighing, just ready to get this all over with.

The officer had given Sarah and Frank a little break while she went to fetch the paperwork on Gerard, so that they could get Frank’s statement regarding all of that as well. When she walked back in she held out a bag of fast food for Frank, smiling. “You must be absolutely starving!”

Frank nodded rapidly and blushed as he scarfed down the food, his stomach aching at the rapid consumption after having been completely empty the entire day. When he had finished eating he sat back and bit his lip sharply.

“Can I see Gerard? I mean, after I do everything here? Can I just see him?”

The officer frowned and sighed a bit. “I’m sorry, Frank, that’s not allowed. But Gerard’s court date will be accelerated, due to the nature of the charges, and once it’s all over, _if_ Mr. Way is acquitted of charges, then it will be up to Mr. and Mrs. Bryant if they’ll allow you to see him in a supervised visit or not.” Frank nodded a little and frowned, but he understood. At the moment he had to put all of his focus and remaining energy into making sure that his statement was as strong as possible to help Gerard clear his name. “Are you ready to start again, Frank?”

Frank nodded and cleared his throat, sitting up and stretching out his back a little. “I’m ready.”

The woman nodded and opened her file folder, glancing down at the list of questions she had to ask Frank for his statement. “How did you come to meet Mr. Way?”

Frank let a serene smile cross his face as he thought about the fateful day they had met. “I was walking home from school, it was in late March… I- I don’t remember the date exactly, I’m sorry.”

“That’s all right, go on…”

“I was walking home from school and some kids who pick on me at school were chasing me and yelling at me, so I was running and they caught up to me and started to hit me and stuff. They were beating me up pretty bad, and I guess Gerard was driving by and saw it happening and he stopped to help me. The kids from school all ran away when he stopped, and Gerard took me back to his apartment and gave me some bandages and antiseptic to clean myself up with. Then he drove me home.” Frank sighed a little before his eyes widened, remembering that the officer had told him to be as thorough as possible. “W-we stopped and he bought me something to eat first, and then he drove me home.”

The officer nodded, writing down everything before she looked up at Frank. “Why did you go with a stranger, Frank? Did he offer you anything?”

Frank shook his head and blushed. “No ma’am. I went with Gerard because I was in pretty rough shape, and I was afraid of going home like that and upsetting my dad. Gerard just said he’d help me clean up a bit. He seemed really genuine, so I trusted him.”

“All right. Tell me about how you developed your friendship with Mr. Way.”

Frank told the woman everything he could recount, about how Gerard had expressed concern over his wellbeing, and the deal they had struck for Gerard to pick him up from school and drive him home every day.

“Did Mr. Way ever explain to you why he never contacted the proper authorities if he was so concerned for your welfare?”

Frank bit his lip sharply and took a sip of his water, nodding. “I begged him not to. I was scared of what would happen to me. I never told Gerard until much later about the sexual things my dad did to me. I knew if I had told him all of that he would have gone you. Err.. To the police…” Frank looked up at the woman, complete sadness in his eyes. It was entirely his fault that Gerard was in such trouble. He had promised Gerard to always be completely honest about everything, and in his selfishness he had broken that promise, and it had completely backfired on him, and more importantly, it had backfired and affected Gerard.

“Frank, can you tell me about how your friendship with Gerard turned into a romantic relationship?”

Frank sighed a little and shrugged. “The same way it does for anyone else, I guess. We saw each other every day after school, and we talked and grew to know each other. I just… fell in love with him. He was the only person in the world who cared about me, and wanted me to be happy. I could tell he loved me too, so one day, on my seventeenth birthday, I kissed him.” Frank paused for a moment, his eyes watering as he remember that day. He cleared his throat and continued. “He pushed me away and tried to explain to me that he couldn’t be with me until I was eighteen, but I was really persistent. I didn’t understand why we had to wait for a whole year and I put up a pretty bad fuss about it.” He chuckled softly and bit his lip a little. “Gerard kissed me, but that’s all. He told me very firmly that he wouldn’t have sex with me, or touch me in an intimate way until I was eighteen, and he never did. Not at all. I swear, ma’am… all we ever did was kiss. We slept in the same bed sometimes, but we were always dressed, and it was nothing more than sleeping next to each other.”

The questions went on and on, about every little detail that Frank could remember about their relationship, about how Frank had come to live with Gerard, and about their living arrangements together. He explained that he had his own bedroom that he slept in almost every night, alone. He explained that Gerard made sure that he was well-fed and got his school work done, went to school every day on time, went to bed at a proper hour, and was properly taken care of. He talked about the things they did in their free time like listen to music, reading, playing video games, he talked about Gerard’s fascination with art and that most nights Gerard would sit on the couch with a sketchbook doodling and chatting about their day as Frank finished his schoolwork at the table.

It lasted a solid three hours, and by the end of it all Frank wanted to do was to collapse into a bed and cry until he fell asleep. His eyelids dropped heavily and his back slumped a bit as everyone stood up from the table and parted ways. It was made very clear to Frank that he was to go immediately to the hospital to be checked over. He had cringed and felt sick when the officer had called the process a “rape kit” to check for Gerard’s residual DNA on Frank. That process had taken an hour, and finally Frank was free to go home with Sarah.

He had slid into Sarah’s car, biting his lip and staring out the window as she drove across the New Jersey border into New York, and a few tears had slid down his face, but he was so sick of crying for the day that he quickly got his emotions under control again. The drive was mostly silent between them, the both of them just too exhausted and emotionally drained to say much of anything. Sarah had called James and told them that they were on their way home. Finally, as they drove through the streets of Manhattan, Sarah spoke up.

“Tomorrow afternoon we will take you to orientation at your new school, Frank. It’s a wonderful school, I think you’ll quite like it there. It won’t be until the afternoon though, so you can sleep in and have some time to process in the morning.”

Frank nodded and turned to give Sarah a smile. “Thanks Sarah.” He bit his lip a little and returned to staring out the window. He watched lights and buildings float through his vision-field and an odd thought had slipped into his mind. He had always thought of people from Manhattan as so lucky. They had so many things to do and such freedom on their little island, he had always envied their endless possibilities. But now, driving through the city, he found that the thought of living on the island was suffocating. It was a bridge away from his home of New Jersey, but it felt like the other side of the planet.

As Frank and Sarah pulled into a parking spot in a parking garage, Frank looked around, taking his bag from the car and following the woman into an elevator and up to the sixth floor. They stepped out of the elevator into a hallway and Frank was shocked. The building was nice, definitely the nicest he had ever been in, with ornate decorations on the walls and plush carpeting under his feet. He walked with Sarah to the end of the hallway where she unlocked the door and they walked inside. Frank’s eyes were wide as saucers as he surveyed the place. It was humongous, and just as beautiful and posh as the hallway was. The walls were splashed with a soft green color and though it was modern in style and design, it felt like a real home. There were pictures of Sarah and James scattered around, Sarah’s college diploma hung on the wall by a massive bookcase piled with the most books Frank had ever seen in one person’s collection. The apartment smelled like home cooking and everything was clean and well maintained. Frank had never felt so out of place before. He stood in the entry way and pulled off his shoes, shifting nervously.

Sarah gave him a warm smile and seemed to understand what he was feeling. She walked back over to him and cautiously reached over, pulling the boy into a tight hug. She felt Frank stiffen up considerably before sighing and melting into the embrace and she smiled, pulling back and kissing his cheek. “Come on, Frank. You look so exhausted.” She smoothed Frank’s hair gently and led him through the apartment to a bedroom. She opened the door and ushered him inside. “This is your room. We didn’t know what you liked, and there was such short notice that I’m afraid we didn’t have time to decorate or anything. But you’re welcome to decorate it as you please.”

Frank’s throat tightened as he surveyed his room. The walls were beautiful shades of blue and gray stripes and there was a huge soft and tempting looking bed with proper bedding and pillows. There was a dresser to hold his clothing, and on the center of the bed was a small box wrapped with gorgeous paper and a bow.

Sarah smiled and gave Frank another hug. “The bathroom is right across the hall here, and James and I are on the other side of the front room if you need us. Get some sleep, Frank and we’ll talk about everything you want in the morning, okay?”

Frank nodded and hugged her back, glad that she was giving him space for the evening. As Sarah walked out of the room he put his bag down and moved over to the bed, sitting cross legged on it. He picked up the small box and turned it over in his hands a little before reading the small card that was attached to it. _To Frank, welcome to our family. Love Sarah and James._ Frank pulled the bow off and carefully unwrapped it, opening the box. Inside, laying on a beautiful bed of tissue paper was a stunning silver watch with a tag on it that read _Frank, every good man should have a good watch. - Sarah & James_. Laying next to the watch was a set of house keys. Frank’s eyes watered and he set the box down on the side-table, barely able to tug his clothes off and climb between the sheets before his eyes shut fully and he was deeply asleep.

Frank solidly through the night, his emotionally traumatized body desperately needing the rest and recuperation. His eyes fluttered open in the late morning and he stirred a little, letting out a soft sigh as he felt the warmth of eleven o’clock sunlight flooding through the two windows and falling over the bed. He pulled himself out of bed and stretched a little, his heart sinking as he recalled the events of the day prior. He rubbed his face and pulled the duffel bag that held all of his earthly belongings onto the bed, digging into it until he found a pair of gray jeans and the green Decemberists shirt that he cherished so deeply. He pulled on the clothes and quickly put the rest of his things neatly in drawers or on shelves before he moved over to the window and looked out. His eyes widened at the gorgeous view that the sixth floor apartment held. Half of his view looked over skyscrapers and office buildings, sunlight glinting off of mirrored glass which constantly shifted and morphed with a kaleidoscope of busting color as the city thrived around it. The other half of his view was over central park and he watched a group kids, probably NYU students eating lunch and hanging out. After a few minutes he pulled himself away from the window and walked out of the room, looking around as he moved through the apartment.

He heard soft voices coming from the far end of the apartment, in the kitchen/dining room, and he followed the voices, wrapping his arms around his own waist, nervously. He blushed when he saw Sarah and James sitting at the table sipping coffee and talking quietly amongst themselves. “Good morning.”

Sarah smiled sweetly and stood up, ushering Frank into a chair. “Good morning, Frank. Can I make you something for breakfast?”

Frank gulped a little, he was starving, but didn’t want to impose on the couple. “Y-you don’t have to, thank you Sarah.”

Sarah frowned a little and wrung her hands a little, as if she didn’t know what else to do and James just let out a deep chuckle. “Oh let her cook you something, Frank… Sarah’s a care-taker, if she’s not mommying someone she’s beside herself.” He smiled and stood up, pouring a cup of coffee for Frank and sitting it down in front of him. “Did you sleep well?”

Frank blushed a little and chuckled shyly as Sarah grinned and went about fixing him some eggs and toast. “Yeah, thanks. You have a really nice home. Um, t-thanks for the watch, that was really nice of you.”

James smiled warmly. “You’re very welcome, Frank.” James watched Frank carefully for a moment before he cleared his throat softly. “Sarah told me that you had a pretty hard day at the police station yesterday. Are you all right?”

Frank blushed and nodded a little. “Yeah I’ll be okay.” He smiled gratefully at Sarah when she brought him over a heaping plate of eggs and a pile of toast. He dug in and nearly swallowed the entire plate in three bites he was so hungry. He blushed when Sarah took his plate after he finished and he thanked her shyly.

“You’ll be starting your new school tomorrow, Frank. Ms. Kennedy went will be there when we meet the headmistress today to talk about putting you in advanced classes for early graduation.” James grinned broadly. “You must like school, to be on the fast track to graduation?”

“Yeah, I really do!” Frank spoke enthusiastically which caused both Sarah and James to light up. Frank started talking rapidly about all the things he had started learning at his old school. He talked about the English glasses he had, and discussed the books he was reading. He had asked what James did for a job and learned that he was an entertainment lawyer, he asked about the two of them, taking an actual interest in their life and their relationship. They had been together for 6 years and married for 3 of them. Frank had cautiously asked why they were in the foster program and he learned that Sarah was unable to have children of her own, so they had decided instead of adopting to help children who were in need. Frank thought that they were wonderful for taking the most selfless route he could think of. His heart went out to Sarah, and he looked up to James for being such a strong man for Sarah, and he hoped deeply in his heart that someday he could be as strong as he was for the man that he loved. He prayed that he could be that strong for Gerard.

They sat at the table all afternoon and talked about their lives. Sarah and James had both professed sincere sympathy for Frank and his situation, and Frank had talked to them endlessly about Gerard, they both seemed to understand his deep love for the man, and were supportive in his desire to be with him when he was of legal age. He was shocked that they had been so receptive to it, all the other adults who had found out had seemed so condescending and so judgmental of them, but Sarah had bashfully admitted that her first boyfriend had been older than she was and she understood how two people could just fall in love even though they weren’t legally allowed to be together. They had a good talk about it, and by the end of it all, Frank was so grateful to the both of them for having taken him in. 

At 3:00 they left the apartment and drove to Frank’s new school. His eyes bugged out of his head as he saw the cathedral like building of the Dalton School. He watched the bright green ivy that clung to the brick façade swaying in the breeze and he swallowed hard. “This is a wonderful school, Frank. This is where James graduated from!” Sarah smiled and put her hand on his shoulder as they walked into the building, heading to the headmistress’ office. He smiled as he saw Ms. Kennedy had kept her promise and was there waiting for them, and together all four of them walked into the office, sitting down.

Headmistress Miller smiled at Frank, quickly shuffling through a file-folder. “Mr. Iero, I must say I’m quite impressed by your transcript. You are a very studious young man.”

“Thank you Ma’am.” Frank blushed a little.

“Headmistress Miller, I’d like to talk to you about placing Frank in an accelerated program. In his school in New Jersey he was on a fast track from his teachers to graduate by the first week of April. We are very much hoping that with this drastic change in Frank’s life that perhaps we could make the transition as easy for him as we can and get him back to his usual routine as quickly as possible.” Ms. Kennedy spoke up and gave a smile to Frank.

The headmistress looked at Frank for a moment before shuffling around a few papers on her desk. “Well, I don’t see where that would be a problem. Supposing Frank can do well on the placement tests.”

“Yes Ma’am! I will!” Frank beamed brightly, glad that his life was somewhat still on course. “When should I take them?”

“Well Mr. Iero. Seeing as you are slated to start school tomorrow… I would recommend for ease of transition if you did them today.”

Frank’s eyes widened. He had to take the placement tests without even _studying?!_ “Y-yes ma’am.” He gulped a little, never having been so nervous to take a test in his life.

James glanced at Frank, chuckling softly when he saw the panic in his eyes. “Headmistress Miller, surely Frank could have the evening to study and prepare for the tests? After all, the poor boy’s academic future does rely on their outcome. We could bring him to school early tomorrow and perhaps Frank could take the tests before classes start?”

The headmistress sighed a bit and nodded. “Very well, I suppose it’s only fair to let Mr. Iero have an evening to prepare. Six o’clock then, Mr. Iero can take the exams in my office here while I prepare for the day.”

“Thank you, Ma’am.” Frank smiled gratefully at James. The next hour was spent giving Frank a tour of the school, and Frank tried to dedicate the hallways to memory, so he would be able to navigate the school in the following days. After the tour Sarah and James took Frank home to start studying for his exams in the morning. Frank sequestered himself in his bedroom and sat on the bed, spreading his books and notes around the bed, focusing first on his Chemistry since it was his hardest subject.

When morning rolled around, Frank woke with a start to Sarah knocking softly on his door. He groaned and opened his eyes, realizing that he had fallen asleep on top of his books. He stretched and opened the door, smiling at Sarah.

“Good morning, Frank. James and I made you breakfast and made some coffee since it’s so early.”

Frank blushed and nodded. “Thanks, I’ll be right out.”

Frank ate his breakfast with James and Sarah, James taking time to help Frank by giving him a few pop questions that Frank expected to be on his exams while they ate and drove over to the school. Sarah gave Frank a tight hug before sending him into the school to meet with the Headmistress. As he made his way through the halls to the office he gulped a bit. There was so much riding on these exams. He let out a shaky breath and knocked on the door to the office, stepping in when he was called to.

“Good morning Ma’am.”

“Good morning, Mr. Iero. Please take a seat, you’ll need all the time you have, so let’s get started right away, if you don’t mind. You’ll start with history.”

“Yes Ma’am.” Frank sat down and took out his pencil, drawing in a deep steadying breath as the woman laid an exam down in front of him. He flipped the first page and started to work. He was in the zone, recalling the things that he had learned in school and answering the questions easily. He wrote strong essay questions and scratched mathematic equations in the margins, he drew chemical compounds and analyzed passages of American and French literature. When all was said and done, Frank was sure his brain was going to explode right out of his skull, but he was confident in how he had done. He sat back after answer the last answer and rolled his shoulders a little.

Headmistress Miller picked up the papers and began to grade them. It was the most tense and nervous silence that Frank had ever sat through, and when the woman put down her pen and folded her hands over the papers to look at Frank he straightened up, his heart pounding.

“I am very impressed, Mr. Iero. You’ve done a wonderful job. I have no qualms about putting you in the advanced programs, and we will make sure that you have finished all of your credit hours by the start of April.”

Frank’s eyes widened and he beamed bright. “Thank you Ma’am!”

“Now, Mr. Iero. Classes are going to start in fifteen minutes, so I would suggest taking your things to your locker and finding your first classroom.” She handed Frank a slip of paper with his new schedule on it and Frank quickly exited the office.

His day had flown by in a blur of trying to catch up to the class, introducing himself to his classmates, red-faced and embarrassed when a few of them had chuckled at his New Jersey origins and his harsh accent. When the final bell rang, Frank ran out of the school and started his walk home. He had been given explicit directions back to the apartment and Sarah’s cell phone number in case he had gotten lost. Frank popped his headphones in and turned on the Decemberists CD that Gerard had loaded onto the iPod he had given him. Once he got home he saw Sarah sitting in front room with a mug of tea, reading a book.

“Hi Sarah!” Frank smiled. “I did it! I passed my exams!”

Sarah smiled broadly and stood up, hugging Frank tightly. “Oh I’m so glad! Congratulations, Frank. Come sit with me for a moment, I need to talk to you about something.”

Frank nodded and sat on the couch with her, watching her as she placed her bookmark in her book and laid it on the coffee table. “Frank Ms. Kennedy called today. Gerard’s court date is being accelerated, and the hearing will be in two weeks.”

“Two WEEKS?” Frank was wide-eyed. “What’s happened to him in the meantime? Is he still in jail?”

Sarah shook her head. “No, Ms. Kennedy says he’s been bailed out of jail by his brother. But Frank you know you can’t see him until after it’s over.” Frank heaved a heavy sigh and nodded. At least Gerard wasn’t sitting in jail for two weeks waiting for his trial date. “Ms. Kennedy also told me that your father has taken a guilty plea from the state, Frank. He’ll be in jail for a long time.” She reached out and took Frank’s hand in her own. “I know it’s hard because he’s your father--”

“No it’s not.” Frank shook his head. “I don’t care what happens to him.” Frank blushed and looked down. “Will I be able to go to Gerard’s hearing?”

“Yes, you will. Ms. Kennedy says you’ll need to testify.”

Frank nodded and let out a slow, shaky sigh. At least he would get to see Gerard in two weeks, and his father was out of his life forever now. _Two weeks, Frankie. Just get through two weeks, and Gerard will be cleared of this mess._


	11. Chapter Eleven

“THIRTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS, GERARD.” Mikey narrowed his eyes at his brother as they walked out of the police station. Gerard looked like hell washed over, having spent the last 36 hours in custody. Mikey had been tracked down and had immediately booked it back to New Jersey to apply with a bail bondsman to get his brother out of jail. “You had better damn well show up to court, buddy, because if they come and bounty-hunt my ass down, I’m gonna narc faster that you can even process.” He smirked at Gerard, but the man was not in the joking kind of mood.

“Thanks for helping, Mikey.” Gerard climbed into his car that Mikey had brought and drove the both of them back to his apartment.

“You’re in a lot of shit, Gee. I really hope this kid is fucking worth all of it.”

Gerard turned to look sharply at Mikey. “Mikey, I love you, and I appreciate everything you’ve done, but shut the fuck up. I just need silence right now.”

Mikey put his hands up defensively before falling silent as they drove back to his apartment and walked back inside. Mikey had taken it upon himself to clean up after Frank, taking everything the boy had left behind, photos of the two of them, anything that he felt was a memory of Frank and putting it neatly away so Gerard wouldn’t have to be reminded of the boy constantly.

Without saying a word to Mikey, Gerard immediately went to his bedroom and closed the door tightly, letting himself sink into his bed and close his eyes, tears sliding out of the corners and down the sides of his face. He fell into a fitful sleep, dreaming about Frank, and praying that the boy was all right.

He spent the next two weeks in and out of meetings with his lawyer, building a solid case for himself. His lawyer took the edge off of his nerves about the statutory rape charges that were against him, however there were secondary charges. Having Frank living with him was illegal. Frank hadn’t had permission from his guardian, and not having gone to the authorities after the fallout had been a dire mistake. He was facing a secondary charge of “contributing to the delinquency of a minor”. His lawyer said, however, that usually it would be a small charge and it was possible that Gerard would get away with a slap on the wrist, but it was possible that he would do a small amount of time in jail for it. He had resigned himself to that fact, but it tore his heart into pieces. He knew that Frank would blame himself for all of this, but the reality of it was, Gerard was the adult, it had been Gerard’s decision to bring Frank to live with him, and Frank wasn’t to blame in the slightest.

Mikey had been a godsend during the time, keeping Gerard’s mind occupied between meetings, to keep him from thinking too much of Frank. Gerard desperately wanted to run to Frank to make sure he was okay. He wanted to see first hand the family he had been placed with, to make sure that he was safe and well taken care of, and every time he freaked out about it, Mikey had been the one to talk him down from making any more mistakes. 

The day of the trial came faster that Gerard had expected it to. He stared at himself in the mirror of the public bathroom, smoothing down his gray and black suit and straightening his tie. His skin was paler than normal and his skin was drawn from stress. He rubbed his face to try desperately to add a little color to himself, but it was useless. He never slept at night any more. He dreamed about Frank, had a reoccurring nightmare that he had almost every night. In the dream Frank was crying and in distress, and as much as Gerard called out to him and tried to touch him, Frank couldn’t see him, couldn’t hear his comforting words. It broke his heart, and he always woke up with a start, tears in his eyes as he looked longingly at the side of the bed where Frank used to sleep which was cold and empty.

Gerard let out a shaky breath as his lawyer came in and told him it was time to go and he followed the man through the courtroom to the defendant’s table, sitting down, his heart trying to pound its way to freedom through his chest plate. His lawyer gave him a confident smile and a nod and Gerard took a large gulp of water from the glass in front of him. As people started to file into the court room Gerard forced himself not to look around. He knew that Frank would be there, he knew that Frank would be testifying and his heart skipped a beat as he heard Frank’s voice calling out to him.

Frank walked through the doors with James and Sarah, looking extraordinarily uncomfortable in the black suit that James had bought for him. He saw Gerard sitting at the table and he called out his name, going to move towards him. “Gerard!”

Gerard turned and caught Frank’s eyes. The boy looked healthy, that alone was a huge relief to Gerard. He allowed a smile to cross his face, but turned to face the front as he saw a dark-haired woman put her hand on Frank’s shoulder and pull him to the seats they had been instructed to sit in. He took another drink of water and looked to his lawyer, letting out a shaky breath.

“It’ll be all right, Gerard. The state doesn’t have anything to put on you except what we’ve discussed. I promise you, things will be all right.”

Gerard nodded and stood as the judge entered the courtroom. As everyone else took a seat a moment later he remained standing with his lawyer.

“In case number 345-7E, the state of New Jersey versus Gerard Way, on the charges of Unlawful Carnal Knowledge of a Minor how does the defendant plead?”

“The defense pleads not guilty, your honor.” The lawyer spoke up with a confident voice, and Gerard nodded slightly, thanking god that he had taken it on himself to get a proper lawyer instead of the state-appointed idiot that was his other option.

“And on the charges of Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor, how does the defendant plead?”

“The defense pleads guilty, your honor.”

“Very well, council you may start with your opening statements.”

The opposing council started first, highlighting the state’s case against Gerard. It was the bare facts, no flourish or other theatrics that you so often saw in dramatized versions of these scenarios. Gerard felt Frank’s eyes on him the entire time, but he didn’t dare to turn to look at him. He just sat there, staring straight ahead and from time to time, leaning over to confer with his lawyer in hushed whispers. When the council took a seat his lawyer stood and buttoned his suit jacket, taking a sip of water before starting.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the plaintiff as a representative of the state of New Jersey will tell you many facts about this case. They’ll seek to show that my client Mr. Way had an inappropriate and illegal relationship with a man who was under the age of consent according to our state laws. You will hear facts which will be uncomfortable to hear, and they will tug at your heart strings and leave you feeling distraught, because the facts of this case _are_ distressing. You will hear about a young man who was horrifically abused at home, and the statements of a man who was simply there for another person in their greatest time of need. But ladies and gentlemen, it is not a crime to show compassion for another human being! It is not a crime to befriend another, and it is certainly not a crime to fall in love. The defense will illustrate with testimony from Mr. Way and the boy he fell in love with, that they showed inordinate amounts of restraint and caution in their relationship, observing the laws of our state and constitution. Mr. Way is a citizen who should be commended for his actions of heroism, not condemned by his state and country. Thank you.” With that he took a seat next to Gerard again and gave him a small smile and a nod.

The judge allowed for the plaintiff to call their witnesses first and the courtroom heard testimony from some of Frank’s school teachers, from the police officers who had searched Gerard’s home after he was arrested, from a state social worker, and more. They ran the spectrum of people they could think of to talk to, and built a strong case with each one. But each and every time that Gerard’s lawyer stood up to cross-examine a witness, he would punch large legal holes in their statements, or bring up other points that mitigated their initial testimony. When the state’s lawyer had no more witnesses, it was the defense’s turn to ask the questions.

“Your honor, I would like to call Gerard Arthur Way to the stand as my first witness.”

“Very well.”

Gerard stood and made his way to the witness stand, the bailiff swearing him in and he sat down, clearing his throat softly, folding his hands in his lap and trying not to look as nervous as he felt.

“Mr. Way, you and Mr. Iero had terms of your relationship laid out that you discussed, did you not?”

“We did.”

“What were those terms, Mr. Way?”

“We discussed the legalities of our relationship, and followed the laws of the state. There was no sexual contact between us outside of kissing.”

Gerard’s lawyer nodded and moved to their table, picking of a stack of papers and handing them to the jury with a highlighted section on it. “I’d like to read to you a section of the New Jersey Criminal Statutes, section 2C, item 14-2 which reads ‘An actor is guilty of aggravated sexual assault if he commits an act of sexual penetration with another person under any one of the following circumstances‘..” He went on to list the various definitions of the law before he looked up from the paper and back to Gerard.

“Mr. Way, did you ever commit an act of sexual penetration with Mr. Iero?”

“No sir.”

The man nodded and then held up the paper to the jury. “Ladies and gentlemen, if no act of penetration of Mr. Iero was committed, then according to our own laws of the state, Mr. Way has committed no crime by simply kissing and having an otherwise innocent relationship with Mr. Iero.”

The questioning went on and Gerard was asked about various aspects of his relationship with Frank, and Gerard spoke intelligently and calmly about everything, being open and honest. He was asked about how Frank came to live with him, and Gerard told the God’s honest truth about it. He skillfully avoided looking to Frank the entire time, knowing that the boy was embarrassed by all the talk of their relationship, and knowing that if he looked to Frank he would be drawn off of his words by thoughts of him. When they were finished Gerard sat back down.

The next witness to take the stand was the doctor that had performed the rape kit on Frank the night Gerard had been arrested. She confirmed that she had found no trace evidence of Gerard’s DNA that would indicate sexual assault except for a faint amount of saliva by Frank’s mouth. Frank had been called up and had completely backed up Gerard’s story. 

The trial process had taken hours and when it was finished the jury adjourned to discussion chambers for all of a half hour. An unsettling quiet overtook the courtroom as the jury walked back to their seats. The judge came in and once again everyone stood until he had sat down again.

“Has the jury reached a decision?”

The man who sat in the first jurors seat stood up, a paper in hand. “We have your honor.”

“What say you?”

The man looked down and started to read the paper. “In case 345-7E, The State of New Jersey versus Gerard Arthur Way, on the charges of Unlawful Carnal Knowledge of a Minor, the jury finds the defendant not guilty.”

There was an intense breath of relief in the room from those who had come out to support Gerard, but the quiet remained as the man continued.

“On the charges of Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor, the jury finds the defendant guilty.”

Gerard closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath. He had been expecting that, he had _plead_ guilty anyhow, but his body was experiencing the euphoria of being acquitted of the statutory rape charge, coupled with the dread of hearing the judge’s sentence for his secondary charge.

“Thank you. By the laws of the State of New Jersey, I sentence the defendant, Gerard Arthur Way, to ninety days of incarceration at the East Jersey State Correctional Facility.” The judge banged his gavel on the sound-block before standing and exiting the courtroom.

“NO!” Gerard heard Frank’s distressed voice from across the room as the court bailiff went to him and slid handcuffs on his wrists. “NO STOP IT!” Gerard couldn’t stop himself from looking over to Frank and he closed his eyes, desperate to stop the burn of tears that welled behind them. He opened his eyes again and saw Frank squirming and clawing at the arm of the man he had come in with as the older and clearly stronger man held him back from running to Gerard. He made eye contact with Frank and shook his head, giving him a brave smile and simply mouthing “I love you” to him as he was led out by the arm to be incarcerated. He closed his eyes tightly and walked with the bailiff as he heard Frank screaming and crying for him and tears slipped down his face, positive that the boy’s distraught voice would the one haunting him as he slept in his cell for the next three months.


	12. Chapter Twelve

Ninety days in Frank’s world flew by in an instant. In the beginning Frank begged Sarah and James on a near daily basis to take him to see Gerard in jail, but knowing it would be incredibly traumatizing for the young boy they had declined to authorize it, instead enduring the verbal abuse of a pissed off an jilted teenager. After a while Frank stopped asking and forgave the two of them, once again pouring himself into his studies. If only he could keep himself busy, the time would go fast. So he studied twice as hard, got a job at a coffee shop and worked late hours, forcing himself to do menial tasks to keep his mind occupied. On the 72nd day Frank finished his school work and was awarded his high school diploma. 

Ninety days in Gerard’s world seemed to be a lifetime. In the beginning Gerard kept entirely to himself in his cell, using scrap pieces of paper and a blunted pencil to sketch. His mind was constantly on Frank, hoping that the boy was faring well without him. He drew hundreds of pictures of the boys face by memory, some of them just rough sketchy pieces that he would finish and then throw away. Some of them he spent days on, perfecting every highlight and shadow of his face. Those he would keep, folded up and slid inside the copy of the bible that the jail provided for inmates. Eventually he wandered out of his cell during the days. His crime was minor and he was placed with like-criminals, so that during the days they were free to occupy a common room. Sometimes he would talk to someone, but more often he sat on his own and lost himself in thoughts of what he would do when he got out, or where he would go. He had done the math and the day that we was released was precisely fourteen days before Frank’s eighteenth birthday. He had made his promise to Frank, and he intended to honor it.

Jail was unlike what Gerard thought it would be. He was imagining beatings and sodomy, hardened criminals and gang riots. Instead he was mostly left alone, there had been no man who had beat him within an inch of his life and then raped him… instead it was a desolate isolation of self. To be left alone with your thoughts of your loved ones who were effectively a thousand miles away was punishment in itself. Gerard almost wished that someone would come along and beat him, perhaps those distractions would have quickened the time, but instead the empty days simply dragged on and on.

After ninety days, Gerard emerged from the jail, escorted by two guards to the outside gates. He was given his belongings and clothing back and sent on his way back home. Gerard blinked as his eyes landed on his brother who leaned against Gerard’s car, waiting for him. His heart nearly exploded as the tears that he hadn’t allowed himself to cry over the previous three months flooded his face in rivers. He ran to his brother and was enveloped in a tight and comforting hug and he simply stood there, sobbing into Mikey’s chest.

Mikey choked up and squeezed his eyes tightly shut as he hugged Gerard. “Are you all right?”

Gerard nodded and finally stood up straight, wiping his eyes and letting out a little laugh, just honestly so happy to see a familiar and loving face. He took a step back and looked over Mikey, arching his eyebrow steeply. The man was wearing a dark suit and a tie and Gerard screwed up his eyebrows. “What the hell happened to you?”

Mikey snorted a little. “Well _someone_ had to keep up your damn bills while you were incarcerated. I got a job. A real job. I work in an office, can you fucking imagine it?”

Gerard laughed and the feeling of laughter in his chest felt so wonderful that he just laughed harder and harder until he was gasping for breath and wiping his eyes. “You look god damn ridiculous.”

Mikey snorted and punched Gerard in the arm before opening the car door and letting him in. They chatted and Mikey caught Gerard up with the world’s goings on as they drove back to Gerard’s apartment, stopping off at Ray’s diner to eat dinner, Gerard devouring the food like it was the last he would ever eat in his life. By the time they got back to the apartment it was late, and Mikey informed Gerard that he had to get up early to go to work in the morning, and excused himself to go to bed.

Gerard immediately moved to the bathroom and pulled his clothes off, turning the shower to as hot as the water would go before stepping under the stream, wincing at the heat before his body got used to it. He stayed there for ages, just letting the hot water wash away the past three months and soothe his aching muscles. When finally the water started to run cold he stepped out and dried himself off, changing into clean clothes. He walked around his apartment a bit like it was brand new to him. Everything was exactly the way it was when he had left, but home just seemed like a foreign concept. He shook his head and rubbed his face. _Knock it off, Gerard. It was three months, not three years. Damn, you’ve been to summer camps as a kid that were longer than three months._ He chuckled a little at his own thought before moving to his bedroom door. He glanced behind him at the door that used to be Frank’s bedroom. Mikey had taken over the room when he came back to help Gerard through everything and he sighed, he wished that he could just curl up in Frank’s old bed and sleep with the lingering scent of his shampoo on the pillows, but he turned and moved to his own bed instead, sliding into the covers and sinking into the mattress, letting out a contented sigh as he fell asleep.

Frank came home from work that afternoon with a plan. He walked into the room confidently and grinned at James and Sarah who sat at the kitchen table, discussing their days. “James, Sarah… I would like to see Gerard now. Today is the day, look!” He motioned to the calendar on the wall with the date circled about twenty times in red marker. “Gerard got out of jail today! I want to see him, and you can say no, but if you do I’m only going to skip work tomorrow and go do it, so you might as well say yes so we can go through the proper channels with Ms. Kennedy.” He stood there staring at them matter-of-factly.

“Well…” James chuckled softly. “I don’t see how we can argue with that. All right, Frank, you may call Ms. Kennedy and set it up.”

Frank grinned so widely he thought his face would crack in two before he launched himself into James’ arms, hugging him tightly before hugging Sarah and kissing her cheek, spouting off thank yous before running to his bedroom to call the social worker. He flung himself onto his bed and dialed the number, shifting and waiting impatiently as the phone rung.

_“Hello?”_

“Ms. Kennedy, it’s Frank Iero, hi!”

_“I figured you’d call me today, Frank. How are you?”_

“I’m very well, thank you! Gerard got out of jail today, and Sarah and James says I can see him if you set up the appointment!”

 _“All right”_ There was a pause on the line as Ms. Kennedy shifted through her schedule book. _“Why don’t we do it on the thirteenth? I will call Mr. Way and set up a time with him.”_

Frank couldn’t help the squeal of excitement that escaped his lips. The thirteenth was only two days away! “You’re the best, Ms. Kennedy! Bye!”

Frank hung up the phone and immediately ran over to his calendar on the wall circling the date of the 13th, he then ran out to the kitchen to hug Sarah and James again and tell the wonderful news. They had been so amazing with Frank from the very start of it all. Though all of Frank’s tantrums and mood swings he had been going through, they remained calm and rational and explained their decisions to Frank and treated him like an adult instead of like a little kid. Frank really did grow to think of Sarah as a mother, she was kind and gentle and filled the role of the mother that he never had. He respected them a great deal and for the past week had been struggling, as his birthday approached, of whether or not he should tell them that he was going to leave with Gerard when he turned eighteen, or to just cut all ties to everyone and pickup and go, like the original plan had been.

As Frank sat there at the table with them, eating dinner and talking happily about everything and nothing, it came blurting out of his mouth before he could stop and take a moment to think. “Sarah, James, I have to tell you something.” Without stopping for their reactions, he continued. “Gerard and I are going to go away together. On my birthday. It’s been the plan all along. I- I wanted you to know.” He looked down at his lap, feeling bad as he saw the visible hurt on Sarah’s face. “It’s not that I don’t care for you both, I do. So much! I just-- Gerard and I are in love, and… and we want to be together. This place has too much pain for both of us now.”

“But Frankie I-…” Sarah put her hand over her mouth to calm down a bit, wiping a tear off of her cheek. “Frank we love you. James and I love you so much, and we want to be your family. Please don’t go!”

Frank stood up from the table, biting his lip sharply, he couldn’t handle the hurt in Sarah’s voice, he had to get out of there. “I love you both as well. I- I’m sorry, Sarah.” He frowned and turned, walking out of the kitchen and out of the apartment.

Sarah clapped a hand over her mouth and allowed the grief to overcome her. She had just gotten the son that she had ached and longed for her whole adult life, and now he was leaving, turning his back without a second thought. She broke down and sobbed, turning into James’ chest and clinging to him.

James frowned and closed his eyes, hugging his wife to him protectively. He had grown to love Frank as much as Sarah had, but a part of him understood the boy’s need to go off on his own, after all he _was_ turning eighteen. That was the age in which young boys tended to do such things. But to see his beautiful wife in such distress and pain over it tore at his heart. He swallowed hard and rubbed her back, assuring her that it would be all right. Once Sarah had cried herself out on his chest he had brought her to the bedroom and laid her down to rest. James paced the front room floor for a time before he sighed and grabbed his car keys, walking out of the house and down to the parking garage, pulling out and aiming his car towards New Jersey.

Gerard awoke with a grunt as he heard solid knocking on his door and he frowned, rubbing his face. Mikey probably had left his damn keys by the door and was locked out. He pulled himself out of bed and stumbled through the apartment to the front door, pulling it open. He blinked when his eyes landed on the man that stood there. It took him a moment to put his face back in his memory, and he finally connected it to being the man who had been with Frank the day of the trial. His foster father, he assumed. “Yes?”

“Gerard?” James stood there, his hands deep in his pockets.

“Uh, yeah. Can I help you?”

“My name is James Bryant. I’m Frank Iero’s foster father. Can we talk?”

Gerard stared at him for a moment, swallowing hard before he stepped aside and allowed James to walk into the apartment. He motioned to the small table in the kitchen and sat down with him, rubbing his face again to clear the sleep from his brain. “How is he?”

James nodded a little and sighed. “He’s doing well. Gerard if you haven’t yet you’re going to get a call from Frank’s social worker. He wants to set up a meeting with you. My wife Sarah and I are fine with that, we want you to be in his life, Gerard. Frank needs you, and it’s quite clear that you need him as well.”

Gerard stared at the man, cautiously, unsure what the hell the man was getting at.

“Gerard… Frank told us about your intentions on his birthday.”

“Ah.” Gerard set his jaw a bit and he cleared his throat, sitting up straight. “I made him a promise, Mr. Bryant, and with all due respect, I do very much intend to keep it.”

James nodded a little, staring at the top of the table for a moment before he raised his eyes to meet Gerard’s. “Gerard, I am asking you as a man, _please_ don’t take Frank away from us. Please don’t do this to us… to my wife. We only just got him. It will kill Sarah to lose him so soon. Frank has been through so much, and we want to be the family that he never got to have. Sarah wants to be the mother for him that life denied. _Please_ , Gerard… you can be in Frank’s life as much as you’d like, but please don’t take him away forever.”

Gerard felt a pang of sympathy for the man in his heart and he was torn. He had promised Frank that he would take him away. But that was before Frank had gotten a real family. James seemed to genuinely care about Frank, and he had seen the way the woman, Sarah he assumed, had held Frank’s hand and comforted him through his trial, and she seemed to love Frank very much. He closed his eyes for a moment before he stood up and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, James.”

James nodded and stood up as well, reaching out and shaking Gerard’s hand strongly, his face drawn into a frown, obviously upset about Gerard’s decision, but there was nothing more he could do about it. Frank would be an adult and capable of making his own decisions, all he could do now was make sure that Frank remembered that they would be there for him no matter what. With that he turned and walked out of Gerard’s apartment.

Gerard sat there for a time after the man left, just rubbing his face and trying to get everything to sink in. As James had said, Frank’s social worked _had_ called, and they had set up a time on the thirteenth to facilitate a supervised visit between the two of him. It made him sick to his stomach that they would have to be watched by a government facilitator to sit in the same room and have a conversation, but he supposed he understood, and playing the rules was the only path they had left.

The morning of the thirteenth, Gerard woke early and showered, pulling his clothes on before chugging two cups of coffee rapidly. He hadn’t slept at all, James’ voice echoing in his head. He thought about all the things that Frank would have now, a real home, a real family, a real chance for happiness and success, but at the cost of breaking his promise to Frank. He wondered for a moment if he _could_ go back on his word, if it meant better things for Frank, but for so long, that promise was the only thing that Frank had been able to hold onto at night. How could Gerard take that away from him? He couldn’t, there was just no way he could do that to the boy.

Gerard walked into the gray government building where Frank’s social worker had set up the meeting to take place. There would be a government liaison who would sit at the far end of the room next to a two-way mirror where Frank’s guardians would be standing and watching the two of them interact. He had never felt as much like a criminal as he did when Ms. Kennedy had explained the procedure to him. As he was guided through the halls to the room his heart stalled as he saw through one of the two-way mirrors into the room. Frank sat at the table laughing about something, his face lit up like Gerard had never seen. Sarah sat next to him laughing just as hard as Frank, her small feminine hand resting on top of Frank’s in the comforting way a mother does to a child when she is trying to take their mind off of something. His breath hitched as he watched Sarah reach over and wrap her arms around Frank in a tight hug, and Frank returned it whole heartedly, pecking a kiss on her blushed cheek. He took a deep breath as the liaison opened the door and escorted Gerard into the room.

“Mr. Way, this is Sarah Bryant, Frank’s foster mother.”

“Pleasure to meet you ma’am.” Gerard extended a hand to her and smiled kindly when the woman shook his hand. “Thank you for allowing Frank and I to visit.”

Sarah smiled and waved it off lightly. “James and I both love Frankie very much, and he speaks very highly of you, Mr. Way. If you haven’t done anything wrong, and we believe that you haven’t, then there’s no reason to keep you boys separated.”

“Thank you ma’am.”

Sarah stood up and smoothed down her flowy yellow spring dress, leaning down to kiss Frank on the cheek. “Have a good visit, boys.” With that she walked out of the room, and Gerard took her place, sitting down beside Frankie.

James stood behind the one-way glass, frowning a little. He hadn’t told Sarah of his breif conversation with Gerard, and didn’t intend to, it would only serve to break his wife’s heart. “Oh James, come on now, give the boys their privacy.” Sarah took James by the arm and guided him away from the viewing room. “Come, let’s go and get coffee. Ms. Kennedy will call us when their time is up.” James nodded stiffly and cleared his throat, giving Sarah a smile before walking out of the room with her.

Frank fidgeted in his seat as Gerard sat down beside him. He wanted to fling himself into Gerard’s arms and smother him with kisses, but Ms. Kennedy _and_ the district liaison had given him strong warnings not to do anything of the kind. He tucked a stray bit of hair behind his ear and his grin was so wide it made his jaw ache. “Hey…”

Gerard chuckled a little and smiled at Frank. The boy really looked good. He seemed rested and well kept after, and was growing bigger and stronger by the second. “You look great, Frank!”

Frank blushed brightly and bit his lip shyly. “Thanks. G- Gerard I… I am SO--”

“Do not apologize to me, Frank!” Gerard shook his head and put his hand up. “Not a bit of anything was your fault, okay?”

“Yeah but--”

“No buts about it, Frank. Don’t you dare apologize to me.” Gerard smiled at the boy. “Now come on, tell me about school, about the Bryant’s, tell me about fabulous Manhattan!”

Frank snorted and tucked his legs under himself as he grinned, words spilling out of his mouth rapidfire about everything. He talked about the school, about how nobody gave a crap that he was gay or smart or anything else and absolutely nobody beat him up at all. He talked about how wonderful the Bryant’s were, about their beautiful home, and about the day when he had taken ill and Sarah had stayed home from teaching classes that day to sit by Frank’s bed and read him passages from her favorite book. He talked about the huge library of books that Sarah and James had, and that he was reading a rare copy of Dostoyevsky’s epic “The Brothers Karamazov” which had impressed the shit out of Gerard, not only that he was _reading_ Dostoyevsky, but could, in fact, _pronounce_ “Dostoyevsky”. 

Frank talked and talked and talked, about his final examinations, and how he had been so nervous that he wouldn’t graduate in time, but he had aced all of them due to a week long study session in which James had taken time off of work to sit and run flash cards and grill Frank about everything. He talked about the time when Sarah had let him sneak into the back of her lecture at NYU and observe her classroom as she taught her French literature class. He talked about living in Manhattan, and the view of Central Park from his bedroom, about his job at the coffee shop and the vagrant man that Frank had taken to giving a dollar and a bagel to every day on his way to school, and Gerard sat back and absorbed all of it, a huge grin on his face the entire time. By the time he had talked himself out, it was getting late in the day, and Gerard was sure Ms. Kennedy would come in at any minute to end their meeting.

“I was thinking, it would be really great and stuff if we met at Ray’s diner on my birthday, and we can eat and then get on the road together, what do you think? Where do you think we’ll end up?” Frank grinned and stared at Gerard, bright eyes and a blinding smile on his face.

“I- I…” Gerard’s heart stalled a bit, the entire time that Frank had been talking, he kept talking about James and Sarah, and all of the wonderful and selfless things they had done for him, and before he knew what he was saying, the words just slipped from his heart, straight out of his mouth. “I think maybe we should re-think running away, Frankie.” There was as stunned silence from Frank after Gerard spoke, and then tension in the room was so thick Gerard thought he might choke on it. 

“Gerard, you _promised_!”

Gerard nodded a little, trying to swallow, but finding himself completely unable to do so. “I know. I know, Frank. But think of all the things you have now… Sarah and James, they love you--”

“ _YOU_ love me, Gerard! You are the only person I fucking care about! You promised we could be together!” Tears shot down Frank’s face as he stood up, becoming visibly agitated by Gerard’s suggestion. He put one hand on his stomach as if Gerard had shot him and he stared at the man point blank.

“I do love you, Frank! And I did promise, and we still _can_ be together.. But wouldn’t you rather stay in New York now? With your new family?”

Frank let out a little scream of anguish as he felt his hopes and dreams being ripped away from him. He clapped a hand over his mouth and sobbed desperately, jerking away from Gerard when the man went to put his hand on his shoulder to calm him. “Don’t TOUCH me!” Frank smacked Gerard’s hand away from him and moved to the door. “You lied to me, Gerard! You fucking LIED to me! I HATE YOU! FUCK YOU!” He screamed irrationally at Gerard and pulled the door open, running out of the room.

Gerard just stood there breathlessly as his entire world collapsed in on him. He watched as Frank ran out of the room straight into the arms of Sarah and James who stood outside of the room waiting for him. Frank sobbed and Sarah wrapped her arms around him, rubbing his back as she walked him out of the building, speaking in soft comforting tones. James remained standing where he was for a moment, staring at Gerard. Their eyes met and James knew that Gerard had told Frank they shouldn’t run away together, and he gave the man a nod of respect and a sad smile.

Gerard just stared numbly into James’ eyes. He hated himself for breaking Frank’s heart like that. He would never recover from hearing Frank screaming “I hate you” at him. Tears flowed down his face freely and he made no motion to wipe them away. 

Frank sobbed desperately into Sarah’s shoulder, clinging to her like life and limb depended on it. He felt like Gerard had reached inside of him and yanked his guts out. He felt hollow and empty on the inside, a completely loss for life reflecting in his eyes. Sarah frowned and hugged him close to her, smoothing her hand over Frank’s back, crying right besides him, clearly distressed at watching Frank so upset. James drove the car back to the apartment and Frank wasted no time in running back to his bedroom and hurling his body over the bed, clutching a pillow and sobbing into it.

Sarah stood in the living room holding her face as she cried. She looked up at James with horrifically sad features and sniffled softly. “I don’t understand… when Frank talks about him, he only ever talks about how in love they were… why would Gerard do that to him?” She sank down onto the couch and grabbed a tissue, dabbing her eyes in vain as more tears welled up and rolled down her cheeks. “How could he?”

James sighed heavily and sat down next to Sarah on the couch, wrapping his arms around her. “Maybe it’s for the best, love. Maybe Gerard understands that Frank has a family here now who love him very much. Maybe he just came to senses and didn’t want to take Frank away from us.”

Sarah sniffled softly and looked up at James through watery eyes. “Came to his senses? What do you mean?”

James frowned a little and sighed. “I-… I talked to him the other night, Sarah. After you were so upset over Frank leaving with him… I asked him to reconsider… to let Frank live a happy life here with us.”

Sarah gasped and stood up, pushing him away from her lightly. “You did _what_!?” Her eyes widened in shock as she stared at her husband. “James… how could you?”

James gaped softly at Sarah’s reaction. “I want what’s best for him, Sarah!”

“Don’t you think I want what’s best for him?” Sarah narrowed her eyes a little at James. “Jesus, James… how could this be what’s best? Tearing the one person who has been there for him in the darkest times, for as long as Gerard has? Asking the man to rip Frank’s poor heart out?! Listen to him, James!” She motioned at Frank’s door and the source of the muffled sounds of Frank sobbing helplessly. “How is this what’s _best_ for him?!”

“I was thinking of _you_ , Sarah! Of US! Of our family!”

Sarah reached out and briskly slapped James in the face before immediately regretting it, her voice softening. “You should never have gone to talk to him without at least talking to me about it first, James!” Sarah shook her head, tears sliding down her face again and she immediately turned on her heel, grabbing her car keys and her purse, heading for the door.

“Sarah! Where are you going?”

She stopped and turned on James, straightening up and taking a deep breath. “I’m going to go and fix this. Don’t you even _think_ about leaving his apartment and leaving Frank here by himself.” With that she turned on her heel and ran out the door.

When Gerard arrived home late in the evening, having had to stay and fill out paper work and what-not with the state liaison, he blinked as he pulled into his driveway, his eyes landing on a small woman sitting on his doorstep, wringing her hands. He sighed and got out of his car, walking towards her. Sarah stood as Gerard walked towards her and she carefully brushed off her skirt, taking a deep breath. “Mr. Way…”

“Ma’am… Mrs. Bryant… I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve had a pretty shitty day today, and to be quite honest, you’re just about the last person I want to see waiting for me right now.”

Sarah frowned and nodded as Gerard started to walk past her. She closed her eyes tightly and spoke up just as Gerard started to unlock his door. “Did you ever really love him, Gerard? Or did you just love the idea of being his hero?”

Gerard grit his teeth and let his hand fall for a moment before he opened the door. “Don’t insult me, Mrs. Bryant. I think it’s fairly fucking clear that Frank and I were-... _are_ in love.” He turned to look at her, his face deadly serious. “I did what your husband asked me to do, so go home and be his mommy, Sarah. Hug him and kiss him and tell him that I’m a monster, and that’s fine. I will be the monster if it means that Frank has a safe and happy life, but _don’t_ fucking insult me and question whether or not I love him.”

Sarah nodded and walked up the two steps between herself and Gerard, staring at him in the eyes. “What my husband asked you to do is appalling. I am ashamed of him for proposing such a thing to you, and frankly, Mr. Way, I’m ashamed of you for accepting it. After everything that you went through to be with him, after everything you faced, you still don’t understand that the only thing that Frank wants is to be with you.” She shook her head. “James and I love Frank very much, and if you were to take him away, to run off to be together, I would be devastated, but I would hope that Frank would remember us, and know just how much we care for him. I trust in Frank’s decisions, and if decides that going with you is the best thing for him, then so be it, and James and I will go to sleep every night thinking about him, and praying that he’s okay, until he decides to reach out to us. If you are any kind of a man, you’ll come for him tonight. I know you will.” Sarah reached out and took his hand, pressing a slip of paper with her address on it into the palm of Gerard’s hand. With that, she smoothed down her dress and walked down the steps, forcing herself not to look back at Gerard as she got in her car and drove away.

Gerard grit his teeth and let out a growl, lashing out and kicking his door sharply. He stared at the piece of paper with Sarah’s address on it and mumbled curses under his breath, turning around and walking down the stairs to his car, driving off in the direction of New York City.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

By the time Gerard made it to Sarah and James’ apartment and knocked on the door, chaos had ensued. He heard screaming and yelling and Sarah crying. He knocked on the door, his heart pounding. When the door opened and Gerard’s saw Sarah’s face, tear streaked and red-eyed, he gaped. “What happened?”

“He’s gone…” Sarah broke down again, her face crumpling as she pulled Gerard into the apartment, tears shooting down her face. “James fell asleep and Frank must have snuck out and run away. All of his things are gone!”

Gerard felt a flash of hot anger towards James for having been so careless as to not keep an eye on the boy. He growled a bit and clenched his fists as he heard James on the phone with the police. Sarah collapsed onto the sofa holding her face and sobbing still. Gerard breathed out slowly, knowing that anger was not going to solve the situation, for that matter, neither were Sarah’s tears. He crouched down next to Sarah and put his hand on her shoulder. “Calm down, Sarah… he’ll be fine, just fine. He’s a smart boy, Sarah. Don’t worry, we’ll find him.”

All of a sudden it was if a tornado had descended upon them. There were police everywhere, James, Sarah and Gerard were all giving statements. For days and days they searched high and low for Frank, throughout New Jersey and New York pictures of Frank were plastered to shop windows and telephone poles. Occasionally Gerard would think he caught a glimpse of the boy and he would sprint after the person, yelling his name, and time after time his heart slammed through the floor when he realized it wasn’t him. Sarah became increasingly distressed and she and James fought more and more. Sarah blamed James for the situation, and their marriage struggled because of it.

Frank’s birthday came and went and still there was no sign of the boy. The police were starting to give up, he was eighteen now, if he had run away, they couldn’t do anything to bring him back anyhow. There were still feeble attempts to find him from authorities, but they were half-hearted and never amounted to anything. Sarah never gave up, she fought with vigor to find him, every day she would hand out fliers with Frank’s picture on it, asking everyone on the street she saw if they had seen him. Gerard found her resolve admirable. She had only known Frank for such a short time, but she loved and cared for him so much. Gerard stood by her side day after day helping her hand out fliers and searching state-wide for the boy. James did seem to be genuinely sorry for what he had done, he put in as much effort as Sarah and Gerard, taking off on weekends to surrounding states and canvassing for days at a time.

It was five days after Frank’s eighteenth birthday when Gerard collapsed into a booth at Ray’s diner, holding his head, his shoulders slumped after a long day of canvassing Brooklyn with Sarah. Ray walked over to his table and put a hand on Gerard’s shoulder. He had heard about the news of Frank’s running away, and his heart broke for the two men. He had been rooting so hard for Frank and Gerard, desperate to see them succeed together. His diner had long since dipped into the red, but Ray held it together as long as he could. Frank and Gerard were his only damned customers, but the two of them were just so magnetic that he wanted to be there day after day, just on the off chance that they could come into his diner and hold hands under the table, casting longing and loving glances to each other across the table, trying to hide what everyone already knew, that they were hopelessly in love.

Ray sighed and poured Gerard a cup of coffee. “You’ll find him, Gerard.”

Gerard picked his head up and nodded a little, taking a long slug of the coffee. “Yeh.”

Ray gave him a halfhearted smile and went back to the kitchen to get something for him to eat. Gerard sat there, just blankly staring into his coffee until Ray came back. He put a plate down in front of Gerard and then sat down across from him with his own dinner and the two of them ate in silence. Gerard was happy to have Ray sitting with him, just glad for the company for the time being, he felt so damn alone in the world. Mikey was doing everything he could to help out, and had left New Jersey to meet up with his wandering friends and spread the world about Frank, getting the lot of them to keep their eyes out no matter where they wandered to, but it meant that Gerard’s house was empty again, and he hated that feeling.

After they had finished eating Ray stood up and picked up both plates, shrugging. “Hell, maybe he went to Chicago after all.” He gave him a little smile before taking the dishes to the back.

Gerard let Ray’s words sink in. He blinked a little, wondering why Ray had said Chicago before his eyes widened. He remembered Frank on the day they had struck their deal sitting across from him in the very booth Gerard was sitting in. He recalled everything about that day, the way Frank talked about school, the way the late-afternoon sunset had lit up the side of his face, he recalled the way Frank had seemed nervous of him, not quite trusting Gerard fully at that point. Above everything else, he remembered Frank’s voice and the words he had said when Gerard had asked him where he was going to go at eighteen.

_“I don’t know. Chicago, maybe? Anywhere that’s not New-Fucking-Jersey.”_

Gerard’s heart pounded and he stood up, throwing money down on the table for Ray before he sprinted out of the diner. He was sure of it, that Frank had gone to Chicago. Gerard clung to that hope, because it was the only god damn thing he had left to cling to, he would turn Chicago inside out if he had to, but he was certain that Frank was there, he could just feel it in his bones. Gerard jumped into his car and booked it to Newark airport, slamming the car into park in the long-term parking lot before running inside to the ticket counter.

After waiting in line, fidgeting and anxiously looking around he stepped up to the counter. “One ticket to Chicago, right away… I need the _next_ flight!”

The irritatingly cheerful woman clicked and tapped away at the computer, hemming and hawing over Gerard’s options. “We have one that leaves tomorrow morning… or we have one that leaves in one hour, but the last-minute fee is very high…”

“I don’t care. Tonight, I want the one tonight.” Gerard dug out his credit card and handed it to the woman.

“All right, sir, and will that be a round-trip ticket, or one-way?”

The question stalled Gerard in his tracks. He blinked a bit and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “…one-way.”

Before he knew it, Gerard found himself sitting on the cramped airplane, descending into Midway airport in Chicago. Once the plane had been cleared he ran to the taxi stand and jumped into the next available one. He rubbed his face a little and looked at the large muscular blond man who sat in the driver’s seat. “Um… this is going to sound really fucking stupid… but I don’t know where I’m going. I’m looking for someone who may have ran away and found his way here. A young kid, eighteen… do you know where a runaway might end up in this city?”

The driver looked at the distraught man in the rearview mirror and knit his eyebrows. “Like a hostel or something?”

“Yes! Something like that… Sir, I will pay you your fee and then some if you will please for the love of god help me find him, I don’t care how god damn many hostels I need to go to tonight. Please, will you help me?”

The man shrugged a little. “Yeh, sure buddy. I just started my shift, so I got all night. And it’s Bob. My name is Bob, not sir.” He smirked a little. “You wanna come up front? I gotta map and shit up here you can look at.”

Gerard nodded rapidly and jumped into the front seat with Bob. “Thank you, Bob. Thank you so much! I‘m Gerard.”

“I’d suggest we start eastside and work our way through the city. This is Chicago, buddy, there are a shitload of hostels.” The man’s accent was funny to Gerard, and the Jersey native found himself relaxing a bit around Bob, clearly the man knew his way around the city, and was willing to help him. “You _are_ gonna pay me though, right? I don’t wanna get my ass fired.”

Gerard let out a bright laugh for the first time since Frank had gone missing and his eyes watered a bit. “Yeah, Bob. I promise.”

“All right then, to Michigan Avenue we go!” Bob pulled out and started to drive down the interstate. Gerard could see the skyline of the city growing nearer, and still he felt positive that Frank was there, nestled in between the sky scrapers, waiting for him. They wound their way around the east side of the city, and Bob pulled up in front of the first hostel he had found in his navigator. “I’ll wait right here.”

Gerard jumped out and ran inside to the front office, talking quickly with them, until it became quite obvious that Frank wasn’t there, and Gerard left. He jumped back into the cab with Bob and shook his head. “Not this one.”

“Hey do you even know for sure that this kid is in Chicago?”

Gerard shook his head. “Not for sure. But I feel it… he has to be here.”

Bob and Gerard drove around the city, stopping at hostels, shelters and YMCA’s anywhere that Bob could think of that a youth might find their way to were they a runaway. He had put in calls to all of his friends and texted them a picture of Frank that Gerard had brought with him and had recruited everyone he knew to be on the lookout for the kid as well. Pretty soon Bob had drummed up a small army searching the entirety of Chicago for Frank. As they drove, Gerard told Bob the entire story of them, silently thanking God that Bob wasn’t passing judgment on him. As the night dragged on and on into the very early hours of the morning Bob pulled over at the Damen Youth Hostel. They had picked their way through the entire core of downtown and were well on the west side of the city by now. Gerard pulled his exhausted body out of the cab and walked inside to the front office.

“Can I help you, sir?” A young girl around 19 or so blinked at him. “Registration hours are only until midnight, I’m afraid.”

“I- I’m not looking to register, thank you.” Gerard gave her a smile and pulled out the picture of Frank that he had shown to at least a hundred people that evening. “Have you seen this boy? Is he staying here? His name is--”

“Oh sure, that’s Frankie!” Her eyes bugged open and she bit her lip sharply. “I’m not supposed to tell anyone that. Stupid!” She hit the side of her head with the palm of her head. “Whatchya looking for him for?”

Gerard’s heart smashed into oblivion in his chest as the girl positively identified the man as Frank. “Where is he? My name is Gerard, I need to see him right away!”

The girl frowned a little and shifted awkwardly. “I’m not ‘sposed to tell anyone information about our tenants…”

Gerard frowned and moved over to the side of the desk, kneeling down in front of the girl and taking her hands. He looked up at her with complete sincerity. “Miss… I started today canvassing for this boy in _Brooklyn_. I’ve been searching for him for weeks… He ran away from home, and from me… I- I need to find him…” his eyes flicked down to her nametag before he gave the blushing girl a wink. “Lizzie. Darling Lizzie… If I don’t find Frank, something very very terrible is going to happen…”

Lizzie’s eyes widened and she gasped a little, she was obviously completely taken with the situation, and it seemed, was a little on the air-head side of things. “…like what?”

Gerard decided to appeal to the feminine side of Lizzie, what chick could turn away such a dramatic love story? He poured his heart out to her, telling her everything, how he had come all this way to find Frank and tell him how much he loved him. By the end of it Lizzie was swooning and misty-eyed. “Oh.. My… God…” She sniffled a little and placed a hand over her heart. “Okay… I’ll tell you!”

Gerard stood up, his eyes widened as he nodded, eagerly. “Yes, Lizzie, thank you… where is he, sweetheart?”

“He sleeps in room 207 with Tyler and Nick.” She pointed to a set of stairs. “Up there, at the end of the hallway, on the right!”

Gerard grinned broadly and grabbed Lizzie in a tight hug, planting a giant kiss on her lips. “Thank you, Lizzie! THANK YOU!” With that he turned and sprinted up the stairs to the end of the hallway, coming to a stop in front of the door on the right. He gulped a little and knocked on the door, chewing on his lip nervously, praying that Frank would hear him out. There was grunting and shuffling and Gerard could hear a voice inside bitching about the time, and then the door was opened and there he was.

Frank stood there, pillow lines on his face, squinting at the newfound light, his hair was a mess, sticking up at all angles. It took the boy a moment to realize what was happening and finally his eyes shot wide open and he took a step back, clapping a hand over his mouth and gasping in shock.

“Frank!” Gerard reached out for him, but Frank shook his head violently. Gerard frowned as Frank pulled on his shoes and grabbed his jacket, pushing past Gerard and storming down the hallway, obviously still furious at Gerard.

Gerard followed after him, tears running down his face. “Frank! Stop please stop and talk to me! You have to understand--”

“FUCK OFF.” Frank growled at Gerard and continued walking. He shot a glare at Lizzie at the desk and grumbled. “Thanks a _lot_ Lizzie.” With that he pushed the door open, walking outside and starting down the street.

Bob opened the door of the taxi and stood up, his eyes wide, unable to believe that they had actually found the boy. He frowned when he saw Frank walking _away_ from Gerard and he knit his eyebrows.

“FRANK! STOP!” Gerard finally caught up to Frank and reached out, catching his wrist in his hand and pulling the boy back to him. “Please! Frank we have been so god damned worried about you!”

“I don’t _care_ , Gerard. You lied to me, you abandoned me! You fucking _promised_ me, and then you lied!” Frank shook his head rapidly, but his tough exterior was starting to fade, replaced by hurt and tears that slid down the boy’s face.

“I know. I know Frankie, and I’m so sorry! I thought I was doing what was best for you. I wanted you to have the family that you never had growing up! I saw you with Sarah and James and you looked so happy, I- I couldn’t take that away from you!”

Frank broke down and he wrapped his arms around Gerard’s neck, hugging him tightly and sobbing through his words. “We could have run away together, Gerard. We could have just picked up and gone somewhere else to start new. It didn’t have to mean that I left James and Sarah behind!” He sobbed himself out into Gerard’s chest, melting into the embrace as Gerard wrapped his arms around the shaking boy. After a while Frank looked up at him with tear-stained eyes and sniffled a little. “They make phones for a fucking reason, you know.” He let out a pained chuckle and wiped at his eyes. “We can still be together, and have James and Sarah in our lives! They can still be my family…”

Gerard reached his hand up and used his thumb to gently wipe tears off of Frank’s cheeks. “I’m here now, Frankie… I’m ready to be here with you… to leave it all behind and start new right here with you… if you’ll have me…”

Frank stared up at Gerard wide-eyed and in shock. His entire body was trembling as a grin broke out on his face. He nodded rapidly and leaned up, kissing Gerard deeply. Gerard’s fingers slid into the boy’s hair and pulled him closer, kissing him like it was the last breath of air in his lungs. He held Frank close to him and let tears slide down his face as he kissed Frank with the most passion he could muster, trying to convey all the love he had for the boy in one kiss.

Frank let out a sound that was a mix between a sob and a laugh as he pulled back slightly from the kiss and found several people staring at them and watching them. Bob stood leaning against the taxi cab, grinning and alerting the people he had searching for Frank that the boy had been found. Lizzie and his roommates stood in the doorway of the building, watching the boys reunite with grins on their faces, and several other residents at the youth hostel watching, a few of the girls tearing up and swooning.

Gerard grabbed Frank’s hand and pulled him over to the taxi cab, grinning at Bob. “One more stop, Bob… take us to Michigan Avenue…”

Bob beamed and nodded, climbing back in the car as the lovers climbed into the back seat. He drove off as Gerard pulled Frank into his lap and kissed him again, mumbling softly against his lips “I love you, Frankie. And I believe I have a promise to fulfill…”

Frank’s entire body went on pins and needles and he shivered as he remembered clearly what Gerard’s promise was.

_“I’ll take you to the middle of the town and I’ll scream it at the top of my lungs that I love you, and I’ll take you to wherever we find to stay and I’ll make love to you, I promise you that”_

Once the cab had pulled over at the intersection of Michigan and Wells, Gerard leaned to the front seat and dug out his wallet, paying Bob for the fare, coupled with an enormous tip and he hugged the man tightly before climbing out of the car with Frank.

Gerard beamed brightly as he held Frank close to him. He leaned down and kissed him happily before reaching out and stopping a group of three people who were walking down the street, clearly on their way to a bar or club. “Excuse me… my name is Gerard… this is Frank…” Gerard didn’t take his arms from around Frank in the slightest, just held him close to him and grinned, giggling. “I fucking love this boy so god damned much… and I wanted you to know that.” He grinned and leaned down kissing Frank sweetly. “Uhh… Good for you?” The boys both snorted as the group scoffed and looked at them like they were insane. They melted into giggles as one of the girls mumbled under her breath as they walked away. “Freaks…”

Gerard and Frank laughed outright, holding each other up as they gasped for breath among their laughter. Gerard leaned down and kissed Frank again deeply, holding the boy close and protectively.

Frank sighed and slid his hand up along Gerard’s jaw line as he leaned his entire body into the older man. He had waited for so long for this, and now it was finally here. He smiled and pulled back slightly before he took Gerard’s hand and started to lead him into one of the nearby hotels that made up the landscape of Michigan Avenue.

“There was a second part to that promise, you know…”

Gerard shivered at the tone of Frank’s voice as he followed the man into the hotel. He quickly paid for a room and led Frank into the elevator, his hands moving to his hips as he gently pressed Frank’s back against the wall. He reached over and pressed the button to go to floor number twelve before leaning down and softly kissing Frank. These weren’t the desperate kisses they had been sharing on the street, but instead were gentle loving reminds of how deeply the boys felt about each other. Gerard slid his hands up Frank’s sides, letting out a soft sound as he felt Frank’s hands move to his back. For twelve floors he kissed Frank lovingly, and when the doors slid open with a ding he finally pulled back with a gentle smile and took Frank’s hand, leading him to their room.

Inside he carefully scooped Frank into his arms and carried him over to the bed, gently laying him down. Frank’s heart pounded and he trembled, a mix of nerves and anticipation as Gerard moved over him. He let his eyes slide shut and his head fall back as Gerard softly kissed up his neck, pausing to whisper softly in his ear.

“Don’t be nervous, Frankie… I won’t hurt you.”

Frank swooned and turned his head to kiss Gerard again, a soft blush on his cheeks as he reached down and slowly tugged Gerard’s shirt over his head, tossing it aside. He sighed and let his hands move over the man’s muscular chest, content to simply take everything slow. Gerard’s lips curled into a small smile and he kissed Frank, slowly tugging his shirt up as well, fingers trailing over newly exposed skin, and he only pulled back to break the kiss for a moment to pull his shirt over his head and toss it aside.

Skin pressed against skin and Frank let out a soft whimper as he felt Gerard’s long fingers running along his ribs. He leaned down and pressed soft tender kisses to Gerard’s chest, and the two were lost in each other for a while. After the men had run out of skin to lay kisses on, Frank’s hands slid down to work on Gerard’s belt buckle, his trembling fingers sending chills of pleasure up Gerard’s spine. Gerard stared deeply into Frank’s eyes as he helped the boy out, tugging his jeans and boxers off before deeply kissing Frank as he undid the boy’s jeans as well, pulling them off and tossing them on the growing pile of their clothes on the floor.

Frank gasped softly as he felt Gerard’s naked body against his and he let his head fall back into the pillows, biting his lip as his eyes roamed over his lover’s body at last. Gerard blushed allowed Frank to look at him, returning the gaze as his heart beat faster. He leaned down and ghosted a kiss over Frank’s lips, mumbling against them gently. “You are so beautiful, Frankie.”

Frank’s eyes watered and he blushed, kissing Gerard back and whispering. “Nothing compared to you.”

With that, Gerard moved over the boy again and softly kissed over his stomach and thighs, his hands fluidly touching every part of him, and when he slowly took Frank into his mouth, the boy arched his back gently and saw stars. Gerard moaned, the sight of Frankie twisting the bed sheets in his hand and biting his lip was erotic and stirred a deep desire in him to continue, pushing down further. Frank whined and squirmed before reaching down and sliding his fingers through Gerard’s hair. “O-oh god… Gerard…” Gerard kept up his actions for a while before Frank gasped and pulled the man back, blushing deeply. Without words Frank turned Gerard onto his back and leaned down, returning the favor.

They took their time with each other, laying there and simply touching and experiencing each others bodies for two hours before Gerard kissed Frank’s ear lightly and mumbled to him. “Are you ready, baby?”

Frank’s entire body thrilled and he swallowed tightly, nodding. “…will it hurt?” Frank had never experienced sex in a consenting way. He wasn’t sure what to expect, he had experienced sex before, but it was always rough and painful, aimed to hurt the boy.

Gerard frowned softly before nodding a little. “At first… I’ll be gentle, I swear.”

Frank nodded again and kissed Gerard, surrendering to him. “I trust you.”

Gerard moved off of the bed for a moment and dug into his pants, pulling out his wallet, and the condom that he kept there. He moved quickly, trying to get the awkward moment out of the way as he tore it open and rolled the condom on, blushing as he moved back to Frankie on the bed, sliding over top of him and between the boy’s legs. He gave him a soft smile and leaned down to kiss him before whispering in his ear. “Try to relax, baby…”

With that Gerard slowly pressed himself into Frank, reaching down and wrapping his hand around him, trying desperately to ease the pain of Frank’s first consensual time. He kissed him lovingly when he heard Frank let out a little cry and felt his body tense up. Gerard groaned softly and rested his forehead against Frank’s shoulder, pushing until he was fully inside of Frank. He stayed still, waiting for Frank’s body to adjust to him, which it did rather quickly. When Frank let out a soft moan and started to press his hips against Gerard’s, the man started to gently thrust in and out of him, sweet words and moans dripping from his mouth into Frank’s ears.

Frank reached up and clung to Gerard’s shoulders, his entire body shook in pleasure as he let the feeling of making love to Gerard sweep through him. Their bodies moved in syncopation, each of them moaning and trying their best to delay the inevitable. Frank wanted it to last forever, he wanted to feel Gerard inside him until his very last breath, and his back arched deeply as he twisted and panted, feeling his orgasm building.

Gerard watched Frank’s face as he approached climax and he kissed at the boy’s chest, moving stronger and faster as he felt himself nearing it as well. He bit his lip sharply and grasped Frank’s hips, tilting them up slightly as he thrust inside him, desperate to hit Frank’s prostate to send him over the edge. He knew he had succeeded when Frank let out a scream and he watched the boy’s slender body contort and writhe in pleasure until Frank moaned Gerard’s name deeply, coming over his own stomach.

Gerard released a moment later, the sight of Frank in such ecstasy sending him crashing into his own climax and he fell against Frank carefully, the both of them panting and gasping for air. The heat between their two bodies was almost unbearable, but neither of them would move for the life of them. After a few moments of catching their breath, Gerard kissed Frank as he carefully pulled out of him, cleaning themselves up quickly before he moved to the side and wrapped his arms around Frank protectively. He kissed his temple and his shoulder gently as he closed his eyes, complete exhaustion overtaking his body.

“I love you, Frankie.”

Frank sighed and pressed back into Gerard carefully, closing his eyes as well. “I love you too, Gerard. Forever.”


End file.
